Cairo University

Faculty of Engineering
Electrical Power & Machines Dept.

Switched Reluctance Motors

Under the guidance of:

Prof. Dr. Khairy F .Ali

Presented By:

Eng : Hazim Radwan Hadla

Switched Reluctance Motors

1. Introduction
2. Operation principles
3 . Torque production
4. Equivalent circuit
5. SRM drive system
6. Position sensors
7.Power Converters for SRMs

Introduction
The reluctance motor is an electric motor
in which torque is produced by the tendency
of its moveable part to move to a position
where the inductance of the excited winding
is maximized..

Introduction
Basic Structure

Fig.1 Switched reluctance motor configurations

Introduction
The reluctance motor is a type of synchronous
machine. It has wound field coils of a DC motor
for its stator windings and has no coils or magnets
on its rotor..
It can be seen that both the stator and rotor have
salient poles; hence, the machine is a doubly salient,
singly excited machine.

Operation Principles

Cross sectional model of a three phase VR motor, winding arrangement,

and equilibrium position with phase 1 excited

Operation Principles

How rotor rotates when excitation is switched from Ph1 to Ph2

Operation Principles

Rotor rotation as switching sequence proceeds in a three

phase SR motor

Operation Principles
Therefore, the conduction angle for the phase
current is controlled and synchronized with the
rotor position, usually by means of a shaft position
sensor.
Since the movement of the rotor, and hence the
production of torque and power, involves a
switching of currents into stator windings when
there is a variation of reluctance, this variable
speed SR motor is referred to as a switched
reluctance motor (SRM).

Torque Production
The torque production in SRM can be explained using the
elementary principle of electromechanical energy conversion.
The incremental mechanical energy in terms of the
electromagnetic torque and change in rotor position is:

the incremental mechanical energy is equal to the change of

magnetic energy

Torque Production
The electromagnetic torque is then:

where: L(, i) is the stator inductance at a

particular position, and i the stator phase
current.

Torque Production
1. The torque is proportional to the square of the
current and hence, the current can be unipolar to
produce unidirectional torque.
2. Since the torque is proportional to the square of
the current, it has a good starting torque.
3. The torque characteristics of SRM are dependent
on the relationship between flux linkages and rotor
position as a function of current.

Torque Production

Fig.2 Inductance vs. rotor position

Equivalent Circuit
Electrical equation

In this equation, the three terms on the right-hand side represent

the resistive voltage drop, inductive voltage drop and induced
emf, respectively. The induced emf, e, is
expressed as:

Equivalent Circuit
Fig.3 illustrates the equivalent circuit for
one phase of the SRM.

Fig.3 Single phase equivalent circuit of SRM

SRM Drive System

A typical SRM drive system is shown in Fig.4. It
is made up of four basic components: power
converter, control logic circuit, position sensor and
the switched reluctance motor.

Fig.4 Structure of SRM drive system

Power Converters for SRM

Since the torque in SRM drives is independent of the
excitation current polarity, the SRM drives require only one
power switch per phase winding.

Power Converters for SRMs

1.Asymmetric Bridge Converter
Fig.5 shows the asymmetric
bridge converter.
Turning on the two power
switches in each phase will
circulate a current in that
phase of SRM.
Fig.5 Asymmetric converter for SRM
If the current rises above the
commanded value, the switches are turned
off.
The energy stored in the motor phase winding will keep the current in
the same direct until it is depleted.

Power Converters for SRMs

operation waveforms

Power Converters for SRMs

2.(n+1) switches and diode configuration
A more efficient converter topology is
shown in Fig.6
When T1 and T2 are turned on,
phase A is energized by
applying the source voltage
across the phase winding.
Fig.6 (n+1) switches converter topology
The current can be limited to the set level by controlling
either T1 or T2, or both.
the circuit provides restricted current control during overlapping
phase currents.

Power Converters for SRMs

3.Bifilar Type Drive Topology:

Fig.7 Bifilar type drive

Fig.7 shows a converter configuration with one power switch and one
diode per phase when T1turns off the current transfers to the bifilar
secondary and freewheels through D1 and source hence transferring the
energy rapidly.
The disadvantages of this inverter is that it needs bifilar windings ,increase
The copper losses and reduce the power density of the motor

Position Sensors
In the SRM drives, rotor position is essential for the stator
phase commutation and advanced angle control.
The rotor position is usually acquired by the position
sensors.
Phototransistor Sensors:

Phototransistor position sensor

conclusions
The particular advantages are:
(1) simple rotor structure, possibly with low inertia;
(2) simple and reliable stator windings;
(3) higher permissible rotor temperature since there
are no magnets;
(4) high starting torque without inrush currents;
(5) ability to run at extremely high speeds;

conclusions
There are several disadvantages of SRM:
- The pulsed nature of torque production, which leads to torque
ripple and acoustic noise.
- Higher torque-volume ratio needs a small air gap between
stator and rotor, which leads to increased acoustic noise and
less manufacturing tolerances.
- The motor is not self-commutated, it needs a converter and
a commutation controller.