Switched Reluctance Motor – Construction

and Working
June 16, 2018 by admin
Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) is also known as Variable Reluctance Motor. This
motor works on the principle of variable reluctance. This means, the rotor always tries
to align along the lowest reluctance path. As the name suggests, a switching inverter
is required for the operation of Switched Reluctance Motor.
Construction of Switched Reluctance Motor
Variable Reluctance Motor or Switched Reluctance Motor has two different
constructions: Singly Salient Construction and Doubly Salient Construction. Stator
and rotor magnetic circuits are laminated to reduce the core losses in both type of
SRM.
Singly Salient Construction:
A singly salient construction SRM comprises of a non-salient stator and a salient two
pole rotor. The rotor do not have any winding wound over it but the stator have two
phase winding as shown in figure below.

It should be noted that, in actual SRM the number of phase winding on stator may be
more than two. Since the rotor is of salient construction, the inductance of stator phase
winding varies with the rotor position. The inductance is minimum when the rotor
axis and stator phase winding axis coincides whereas it is maximum when both the
axis are in quadrature.
Doubly Salient Construction:
Unlike singly salient type, the stator of doubly salient Switched Reluctance Motor is
of salient construction and consists of four poles as shown in figure below. The rotor
do not carry any winding and is of salient construction but have two poles. Thus this
type of SRM is a hetropolar motor where the numbers of stator and rotor poles are not
same.

The stator phase windings are concentrated winding. These concentrated windings on
radially opposite poles are either connected in series or parallel to result into two
phase winding on stator.
A doubly salient type Switched Reluctance Motor or variable Reluctance Motor
produces more torque as compared to singly salient type for the same size. Therefore
a doubly SRM is more common and widely used.
Working principle of Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM)
As we know that magnetic flux have a tendency to flow through lowest reluctance
path, therefore rotor always tends to align along the minimum reluctance path. This is
the basic working principle of Switched Reluctance Motor or Variable Reluctance
Motor.
Therefore, when stator phase winding A is energized, the rotor align along this phase
as shown in figure below.
When stator phase winding A is de-energized and winding B is energized, the rotor
align itself along B phase as shown in figure below.

Similarly, the rotor occupies a position along phase winding C when this phase is
energized.
Thus rotor rotation in clockwise direction is achieved by energizing the phase winding
in a ABC sequence. If rotor rotation in anti-clockwise direction is require, stator phase
winding must be energized in ACB sequence.
It must also be noted that, a particular phase winding must be energized / de-
energized in synchronism with rotor position. This means as soon as the rotor align
along the A phase, B phase must be energized and A phase must be de-energized if
clockwise rotor rotation is required.
To better understand the working principle, carefully observe the animation of
Switched Reluctance Motor given below.
 Synchronous reluctance motor
By Dmitry Levkin
 Construction
 Working principle
 Features
Synchronous reluctance motor is a synchronous electric motor, the torque of
which is due to the inequality of permeance (magnetic conductivities) by
quadrature and direct axes of the rotor, which has no field windings or
permanent magnets [1].
Construction of synchronous reluctance motor
The stator of reluctance motor may be with distributed and
with concentrated winding and consists of a frame and a core with a winding.

Synchronous reluctance motor

Stator of synchronous reluctance motor with distributed winding

Three main types of the rotor of reluctance motor are distinguished: a rotor
with salient poles, an axially laminated rotor, and a transversally laminated
rotor.

Rotor with salient poles

Axially laminated rotor

Transversally laminated rotor

Working principle of synchronous reluctance motor

The alternating current passing through the stator windings creates a rotating
magnetic field in the air gap of the electric motor. Torque is created when the
rotor attempts to establish its most magnetically conductive axis (d-axis) with
an applied field in order to minimize the reluctance (magnetic resistance) in
the magnetic circuit. The amplitude of the torque is directly proportional to
the difference between the direct Ld and quadrature Lq inductances.
Therefore, the greater the difference, the greater the torque created.
 Magnetic field lines of a synchronous reluctance motor

The main idea can be explained with the help of the figure below. The object
"a" consisting of anisotropic material has a different conductivity along the d
axis and the q axis, while the isotropic magnetic material of the object "b" has
the same conductivity in all directions. The magnetic field that is applied to
the anisotropic object "a" creates a torque if there is an angle between the d
axis and the lines of the magnetic field. Obviously, if the d axis of the object
"a" does not coincide with the lines of the magnetic field, the object will
introduce distortions into the magnetic field. In this case, the direction of the
distorted magnetic lines will coincide with the q axis of the object.

An object with anisotropic geometry (a) and isotropic geometry (b) in a magnetic field
 Magnetic field lines around an object with anisotropic geometry

In a synchronous reluctance motor, a magnetic field is created by a

sinusoidally distributed stator winding. The field rotates at synchronous speed
and can be considered sinusoidal.
In such a situation, there will always be a torque aimed at reducing the whole
system potential energy by reducing the field distortion along the q axis
(δ→0). If the angle δ is kept constant, for example, by controlling the
magnetic field, then the electromagnetic energy will be continuously
converted into mechanical energy.
The stator current is responsible for magnetization and for creating a torque
that attempts to reduce field distortion. The torque is controlled by controlling
the current angle, that is, the angle between the current vector of the stator
winding and the rotor d-axis in a rotating coordinate system.
Features of the synchronous reluctance motor
Advantages:
 Simple and robust rotor construction::
the rotor has a simple structure consisting of sheet electrical steel, without
magnets and short-circuited winding.
 Low heat:
since there are no currents in the rotor, it does not heat up during operation,
increasing the service life of the electric motor.
 No magnets:
the final price of the electric motor is reduced since rare earth metals are not
used in production. In the absence of magnetic forces, the maintenance of the
electric motor is simplified.
 Low moment of inertia of the rotor::
since there is no winding and magnets on the rotor, the moment of inertia of the
rotor is lower, which allows the electric motor to accelerate faster and save
energy.
 Speed control:
in view of the fact that synchronous reluctance motor for its operation
 requires a frequency converter, it is possible to control the speed of rotation
of reluctance motor in a wide range of speeds.
Disadvantages:
 Frequency control:
to work requires a variable frequency drive.
 Low power factor:
due to the fact that the magnetic flux is generated only by the reactive
current. Solved by the use of a variable frequency drive with power
correction.

Permanent magnet synchronous motor

 Constructions and types
 Working principle
 Permanent magnet synchronous motor control
o Trapezoidal control
o Field oriented control
A permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) - is a synchronous
electric motor whose inductor consists of permanent magnets.
The main difference between a permanent magnet synchronous motor
(PMSM) and an induction motor is in the rotor. Studies1 show that the PMSM
has an efficiency of approximately 2% more than a highly efficient (IE3)
induction electric motor, provided that the stator has the same design, and the
same variable frequency drive is used for control. In this case, permanent
magnet synchronous electric motors in comparison with other electric motors
have the best performance: power/volume, torque/inertia, etc.
Permanent magnet synchronous motor constructions and types
A permanent magnet synchronous motor, like any rotating electric motor,
consists of a rotor and a stator. The stator is the fixed part. The rotor is the
rotating part.

Interior permanent magnet synchronous motor

Typically, the rotor is located inside the stator of the electric motor, there are
also structures with an external rotor - inside out electric motors.
 Constructions of a permanent magnet synchronous motor: on the left - standard, on the right -
inside out.

The rotor consists of permanent magnets. Materials with high coercive force
are used as permanent magnets.
According to the rotor design, synchronous motors are divided into:
 electric motors with salient pole rotor;
 electric motors with non-salient pole rotor.
An electric motor with non-salient pole rotor has an equal direct and
quadrature inductances L d = Lq, whereas for an electric motor with salient
pole rotor the quadrature inductance is not equal to the direct L q ≠ Ld.