CES TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL MACHINES AND SYSTEMS, VOL. 2, NO.

4, DECEMBER 2018 339

Switched Reluctance Motor:

Research Trends and Overview
Jin-Woo Ahn, Senior Member, IEEE and Grace Firsta Lukman, Student Member, IEEE
(Invited)

Abstract—There has been a growing interest in switched detach it from its wooden frame and high eddy loss on the iron
reluctance motor (SRM) ever since the development of thyristor in bars, Davidson’s motor was functional and became one of the
1956. The most appealing feature of SRM which attracts remarkable inventions throughout history.
researchers over these years is its simple structure that
incorporates concentrated windings on the stator poles and plain
There were a few variations of the early SRMs which rooted
laminations of ferromagnetic material as a rotor. Due to this from the electromagnetic motor by Davidson, but the name
attributes, advances are being made rapidly with the consideration itself did not arise to the public until 1969 when S. A. Nasar
that SRM can be used as an alternative to DC motors and published his paper titled “D.C.-Switched Reluctance Motor”
permanent magnet motors. The objective of this paper is to [2]. The rotor consisted of a single iron blade and there were six
present an overview of the recent developments and a prediction electromagnets which current us switched on and off according
of possible future advancements in SR Drives. Brief history,
importance, innovations in structure and control, along with
to the rotor position. This model slightly resembled the modern
practical application examples are all discussed here to give a more SRM as can be seen in Fig. 1(b) and it was introduced as a
in-depth comprehension of the motor. commutator-less DC motor emphasizing on the replacement of
commutators with solid-state switching devices.
Index Terms—Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM), history,
operating principle, SRM types, applications.

I. INTRODUCTION

S WITCHED reluctance motor (SRM) is a doubly salient

electric machine that relies on reluctance torque to rotate
rather than electromagnetic torque, as indicated on the name.
The term switched comes from the fact that the motor depends
heavily on power switching transistors for its operation. This,
however, was the factor that slowed the development of SRM
since power electronics were not so advanced. (a) Davidson’s motor
Robert Davidson invented the world’s first electric
locomotive for the Edinburgh-Glasgow railway line on 22nd
September 1842 which was driven by a motor that he created in
1839 [1]. The structure of Davidson’s motor was simple: there
was a pair of horseshoe-shaped electromagnets each connected
to either a rotary switch or commutator and a wooden cylinder
with an odd number of iron bars on it, as shown in Fig. 1(a). By
alternately turning the switches on and off, the iron bars will be
pulled towards the corresponding electromagnets, thus creating
a rotation. As primitive as it might be, this later became the
fundamental principle of modern SRMs, which will be (b) Nasar’s DC-SRM
Fig. 1. Graphical illustrations of early SRMs
explained in detail in the next section. Although there were
some problems such as a significantly large radial force when It was not until 1980 where Lawrenson both used the term
an iron bar gets aligned with an electromagnet that would switched reluctance motor and introduced the design principle
of the now popular structure of SRM [3]. It was called the
Manuscript was submitted for review on 27, September, 2018 doubly-salient reluctance motor and the layout is shown in Fig.
This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through
2 with the symbol 𝜃, 𝛽 , 𝛽 , 𝑔 , 𝑑 expressing rotor position,
the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry
of Education (2018R1D1A1B07043735) stator pole arc, rotor pole arc, intepolar air-gap (rotor pole
Jin-Woo Ahn and Grace Firsta Lukman are with Mechatronics Engineering height), and rotor diameter, respectively. Other key
Department, Kyungsung University, Namgu, Busan, Republic of Korea development points of SRM fundamentals are listed in order in
48434
Digital Object Identifier 10.30941/CESTEMS.2018.00043 Table I.
340 CES TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL MACHINES AND SYSTEMS, VOL. 2, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2018

The advancements of SRMs have been recorded in some II. IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN SRM
literature such as [4] and [5]. However, there are not any works The main attractive point of SRM is its simple structure. The
done to document the researches from year 2000 until now. This windings and/or, if needed, permanent magnets are located on
paper deals with the more recent and updated innovations which the stator only and the rotor only consists of a stack of
are followed by the prediction of SRM utilization in the future. laminations of ferromagnetic material. Furthermore, the
The main idea and concept of each important research as of now windings are that of the distributed type. From manufacturing
are described along with the final results. To give a better point of view, SRM is practically easy to make. The windings
understanding of the matter, the significance of SRM can be simply inserted into the stator and core laminations in
development is explained first in the next section, then motor conventional designs are made with stamping. The placement
types are described, and finally, prospective research topics are of the coils which is a major source of heat during operation is
discussed. also beneficial for cooling. However, there are several known
drawbacks of SRM such as high torque ripple and acoustic
noise, which are also the consequences of its geometry and
these have become popular research topics.
Generally, a research can be described as a careful and
detailed study to find an answer or solution into a problem or
issue that motivated it. Literature regarding SRM usually are
focused on performance improvement either from design [6-8]
or control side [8-11]. Other than these subjects, there are some
other motivational backgrounds which state the utmost
important of SRM development, as explained below.

Fig. 2. Elements of a doubly-salient reluctance motor [3] A. Demand for high-speed drives
The interests in high-speed machines are increasing in the
TABLE I last decade and the speed limit has been pushed further up to
KEY MILESTONES OF SR DRIVE RESEARCH
one million rpm which was claimed to be the world-record
Year Developer Research Topic speed [12]. Power is a product of torque and angular speed
1839 Davidson’s motor for electric
whereas torque is proportional to rotor diameter and stack
Robert Davidson length. Therefore, three conclusions can be obtained from this:
locomotive: origin of SRM
1844 Charles Grafton Page Axial engine: two solenoids switched by  For the same output torque and volume, high-speed
a commutator on the crankshaft to drive a
flywheel
motors can produce higher output power, thus increasing
1933 British Navy First bidirectional variable reluctance the power density.
step motor used as a remote position  For the same output power, high-speed motors can be
repeater for compass and gun pointer
indicator.
made smaller, reducing its size and weight. Lightness and
1956 General Electric Development of thyristor compactness are desirable factors, especially in
Company automotive and transportation field.
1962 Jean Jarret, et al. Variable reluctance motor which core
saturation is near maximum level to
 For the same output power, the small size and winding
maintain high efficiency design of high-speed motor may improve efficiency.
1969 S. A. Nasar First term usage of ‘switched reluctance High-speed motors are mainly used in direct-drive
motor’
application. This also has its own merits such as: increased
1972 B. D. Bedford First patent of early SRM explaining
about the structure of a brushless overall system efficiency due to the elimination of transmission
reluctance motor and its control circuit gears/belts and higher reliability. Applications that take
1974 L. E. Unnewehr and Axial air-gap reluctance motor for advantage of it are micro machineries, industrial spindles for
W. H. Koch variable speed applications
1976 J. V. Byrne Saturable reluctance motors grinding or drilling, spindles for dental surgery, air
1978 H. Bausch and B. A 4-phase, thyristor-fed, double stack compressors, and vehicle turbochargers/superchargers. Fig. 3
Rieke motor for vehicle propulsion shows the categorization of each application considering the
1980 P. J. Lawrenson et al. Variable-speed switched reluctance
motors: general foundation for the output power and rotational speed.
practical design of SRM SRM rotor has no windings or permanent magnets on it, so
1983 Tasc Drives Ltd. Oulton motor: first commercially generally, the inertia is considerably low compared to other
available SR drive
1984 P.St.-J.R. French and Switched reluctance motor drives for rail motor types. Based on this, most SRMs are used in high-speed
W.F. Ray traction application. Literature in [14] and [15] summarized the high-
1986 T. J. E. Miller SR drive operating without a shaft speed motor technologies and [16] specifically gave an outline
position sensor
1987 T. A. Lipo and J. C. Coupled circuit model which allows
about high-speed SRMs. The fastest SRM is recorded as a
Moreira mutual coupling between motor phases 100W 750,000 rpm 6/4 SRM which was designed for micro
1988 P. Materu and R. Estimation of switched reluctance motor machine [17].
Krishnan losses
AHN et al. : SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR: RESEARCH TRENDS AND OVERVIEW 341

150 100
Magnet output
120 Growth rate 80
60
90
40
60
20
30 0
0 -20
1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Year
Fig. 4. Annual magnet output growth in China

III. ADVANCEMENTS IN DESIGN

Fig. 3. Elements of a doubly-salient reluctance motor [13] Previously, the primitive designs of SRM were shown. In
this section, some modified or altered structures of the
motor are discussed and evaluated. Normally SRMs are
B. Permanent magnet scarcity known as free permanent magnet motors, but they might be
Permanent magnet motors are associated with high power added to the stator either to give an initial rotating position,
density and efficiency. This is due to the fact that they do not increasing power density, etc., according to the application.
require any energy to generate magnetic field. There are a lot of This type of SRM is called hybrid. Outside the shown common
permanent magnet types, depending on the rare earth material SRM classification in Fig. 5 below, there are also other
(REM) synthesis made to create them. Although REMs are configurations such as double rotor or outer rotor types.
relatively abundant, discovered minable concentrations are To produce an optimal design result, some trade-offs must
mostly located in China, which provided over 95% of output in be involved. There are a lot of possible options to achieve
2011 [18]. Therefore, there are some concerns over the the required specifications. For example, for a given motor
availability of these materials as permanent magnet demands volume, an effort to increase torque by maximizing rotor outer
are increasing due to its wide usage and it has also been widely diameter will result in a thinner stator yoke that will
reported that the extraction and refinement of rare earth oxides lead to full saturation. Experience plays a great role in
is a potentially environmentally damaging process. Numerous determining which parameters should be subjects to change.
government supported projects such as REACT (Rare Earth This is why some engineers turn to evolutionary
Alternatives in Critical Technologies) by ARPA-E in the US algorithms such as genetic algorithm (GA) and
and rare-earth-free motor by NEDO (New Energy and differential evolution (DE) or swarm intelligence, even
Industrial Technology Development) in Japan. neural networks to act as a second eye in designing electric
The most popular element for permanent magnet is machines as proposed in [22] or [23]. Due to the fast varieties
neodymium (Nd) and is also considered as the strongest, which of this kind of algorithms and that these are only means of
means only a small piece of neodymium magnet is needed to designing which are not solely applied to SRM, the author
produce a certain amount of magnetic field. Dysprosium (Dy) does not discuss it further.
is usually added to the mix to increase coercive force. However,
unlike what the name might suggest, REM is not exactly rare.
Neodymium abundance in the Earth’s crust is reported at about
38 mg/kg whereas dysprosium is much lower at about 5.2
mg/kg. It is the bulk production of the material by one single
country which becomes the problem. Fig. 4 shows the annual
magnet output in China from 1997 to 2015 [19].
This goes back to the previous section about demand high-
speed drives which is usually fulfilled with permanent magnet
motors. Even though neodymium is mostly used, the most
abundant rare-earth element is cerium (Ce) and its price is 90% Fig. 5. SRM classification
cheaper than neodymium. This can be a temporary solution to
the current problem. However, a long-term answer can only be A. Rotor with ribs
achieved by eliminating the dependency on permanent The salient poles of SRM rotor cause windage loss during
magnets. A study in [20] proposed an 18/12 SRM to compete rotation and even though it is not a major factor, this still
with PMSM (permanent magnet synchronous motor) of the contributes to the production of acoustic noise. Therefore,
same size for electric vehicle traction. Furthermore, another cylindrical rotor structure by implementing ribs connecting
possible benefit of removing permanent magnets is cost each rotor pole is adopted as shown in Fig. 6. The rib is
reduction, as shown in [21]. SRM researchers may invest more saturated in [24] and the result shows that this method may be
in low core loss core material which is expensive, but the more appealing to high-speed application since it reduces
overall cost is lower than that of PM motors. efficiency in low-speed region. On the other side, a study in [25]
342 CES TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL MACHINES AND SYSTEMS, VOL. 2, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2018

gives a more comprehensive analysis by including C. Short flux path

displacement and stress investigation of the 0.2mm rib. This Conventional or basic SRMs implement long flux path where
time, however, the efficiency improvement is higher in low- flux flow along the full circumference of stator back iron. This
speed region. To be noted here, both motors were experimented results in the flux reversal phenomena in which the flux
at different rated speed. The former was already in an operating direction of one phase excitation “clashes” with each other, as
state from 15,000 to 40,000 rpm and the latter was from starting shown in Fig. 8. Flux reversal leads to an increased magneto-
state 0 to 7500 rpm. Therefore, it can be concluded that the rib motive force (MMF) requirement and core loss, resulting in low
reduces windage loss in high-speed operation and static friction electric utilization of the motor [27]. Therefore, structures
loss at startup. adopting short flux path can be considered instead to improve
performance, as summarized in [28].
Segmental SRMs can be categorized into two types: stator
and rotor segmental. Stator segmental (SS) means that the stator
core is divided into discontinued segments and the same goes
for rotor segmental (RS) but with the rotor part. Fig. 9 shows
6/5 SRM in both SS and RS forms. For SS, the core can be cut
into a C or E shape according to the pole numbers. On the other
Fig. 6. Rotor with rib. hand, RS achieved the short flux path by implementing both
magnetic isolator to redirect flux and ferromagnetic materials.
B. Non-uniform air-gap When designing SS, radial force has to be considered since it
The generated electric torque 𝑇 in SRM can be described by can create rotor unbalance that, at worst, can make it hit the
using the equation below, stator during operation. Meanwhile, since RR adopt two
1 𝑑𝐿(𝜃, 𝑖) materials, the motor has to be carefully manufactured to make
𝑇 = 𝑖 (1)
2 𝑑𝜃 sure the two do not separate during rotation, especially if it is
where 𝑖 is phase current, 𝜃 is rotor position, and 𝐿(𝜃, 𝑖) can be used in high-speed region.
calculated as,
𝜆
𝐿(𝜃, 𝑖) = (2)
𝑖
in which 𝜆 is phase flux linkage.
Based on the equations above, output torque can be altered if
there are modifications that change flux linkage over air-gap.
For this purpose, some rotor structures that create variable air-
gap are reviewed in [26] and shown in Fig. 7.
These rotors are used to produce wider positive torque region
and therefore higher average torque. One common
disadvantage that they have is that they only can rotate in one (a) Phase A excitation (b) Phase B excitation
predetermined direction. Moreover, saturated rotor and internal Fig. 8. Flux reversal phenomena.
air-gap types suffer from less robustness than stepped rotor
since they possess holes. On the other hand, stepped rotor has
higher torque ripple due to the sudden change in the air-gap.
Meanwhile, if variable air-gap stator structure is considered, it
will create asymmetry which has the potential to increase radial
force of stator teeth and thus, vibration.

(a) 6/5 stator segmental (SS) (b) 6/5 rotor segmental (RS)
Fig. 9. Segmental SRMs

(a) Stepped rotor D. Bearingless SRM

The design process of electric machines, especially the high-
speed ones, are not just about electromagnetic factors, but
considerations on mechanical limitations are also necessary.
For example, higher rotational speed means higher mechanical
losses due to bearings and wrong selection of bearings will limit
the maximum speed of a given motor. Common types of
bearing such as roller and ball bearings may not even be suitable
(b) Saturated rotor (c) Internal air-gap
Fig. 7. Variable air-gap rotor structures for high-speed operation, so noncontact types such as air foil
AHN et al. : SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR: RESEARCH TRENDS AND OVERVIEW 343

and magnetic bearings are usually used. Motors with magnetic Due to these reasons, permanent magnets are often used in
bearings can be categorized into maglev type along with single-phase SRMs and they are often positioned to provide
bearingless motors. positive cogging torque or in other words, pull the rotor to
The concept of bearingless SRM (BLSRM) is based on maintain rotation as if there is phase excitation. Fig.12 shows
magnetic bearing principle. Generally, there are two kinds of variations of 4/4 hybrid SRM structures. In the 𝑣-shaped motor,
winding: torque and suspension windings. As the name the magnets are inserted in the middle of the stator in a
suggests, torque windings are responsible for torque generation concentrated manner as proposed in [30]. This construction is
and are excited accordingly as a regular SRM would whereas simple and easy to manufacture. However, it also weakens the
suspension windings are responsible for holding the rotor and stator since it cuts into segments instead of whole. The 𝜋 -
shaft in the air, keeping them balanced. Fig. 10 shows the phase shaped motor also places the magnets in concentration, but it
A of a 12/8 BLSRM with suspension force generation and Fig. keeps the wholeness of stator [31]. The disadvantage of this
11 shows the corresponding inductance, torque, and force structure is its complicated design and manufacture. Other
profiles. 𝜃 and 𝜃 mark the unaligned and aligned positions of variation is also proposed in [32] and it is called a Cyrano motor.
the rotor. Phase excitation is turned off before aligned position Magnet-location-wise, even though it has to be inserted into
so torque generation only happens between 𝜃 and 𝜃 . stator core, it is relatively simpler than the previous two without
Therefore, there is a torque dead zone from 𝜃 to 𝜃 where the sacrificing robustness. However, there is a rotor “nose”
next phase will be excited. Meanwhile, the suspending force is involved in the design which is not easy to manufacture that
slowly increasing and reaches its max at aligned position and may increase the overall cost.
then slowly decreases accordingly. Other structures of BLSRM One important design point when designing a hybrid SRM
are reviewed in [29]. other than permanent magnet placement is starting torque.
ima+
is2+ Suspending
There is a considerably high cogging torque due to the
Winding permanent magnets compared to conventional SRMs. The
Airgap 2
Airgap 1 electromagnet torque produced by phase excitation has to be
is1+ large enough to overcome cogging torque.

ima-
F

is1-

y
x
is2- Torque Winding

Fig. 10. Typical conventional BLSRM structure

(a) 𝑣-shaped

(b) 𝜋-shaped (c) Cyrano type

Fig. 12. Hybrid SRM structure variations
Fig. 11. Ideal inductance, torque and suspending force profiles
IV. ADVANCEMENTS IN CONTROL
E. Hybrid SRM
SRM is known as a permanent magnet-less motor which is The operation of SRM is based on reluctance torque instead
one of its attractive features as explained before. However, of continuous torque such as that in synchronous motors. This
there are some applications that require permanent magnet to be nature leads to high torque ripple and a highly nonlinear
implemented, such as in a single-phase SRMs where the rotor magnetization characteristic. The generation of torque depends
has to be parked to give it a definite starting position. on the switching action according to rotor position, which is
Single-phase SRM has the least number of switches and can why one of the common control of SRM is switching angle
be considered economical converter-wise. However, control where the engineer may choose appropriate turn on and
conventional structure has a large torque dead zone occupying off angles. Current controls such as soft/hard chopping and
half of the electric cycle. This means high torque ripple and that hysteresis are also frequently used. The characteristics of these
if the rotor happens to stop in that area, it is unable to self-start. methods are described in Table II. Generally, current control is
344 CES TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL MACHINES AND SYSTEMS, VOL. 2, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2018

applied in low-speed region where the current has enough time complies with the rules in the table below where T and 𝑘
to rise to its maximum value, so it is controlled to adjust to indicates the phase torque and active phase.
desired performance. On the other hand, angle control is used
for high-speed operation where the time is not enough for TABLE III
VOLTAGE VECTOR SELECTION
current to rise, which is why the on/off angle is controlled to
allow more current flow. In this section, however, instead of the T↑ λ↑ T↑ λ↓ T↓ λ↑ T↓ λ↓
common methods, three advanced controls in SRM are chosen Vk+1 Vk+2 Vk-1 Vk-2
and a brief introduction of each is discussed.

TABLE II
COMMON SRM CONTROL METHODS
Current control Angle control
(low speed) (high speed)
Back EMF < supply voltage Back EMF > supply voltage
Concept Slow inductance increase rate Fast inductance increase rate
Large current increase rate Low current increase rate
Excitation angle is moved
Chopping  Loss due to
forward to allow more
switching action
current
Conduction angle decrease  Conduction angle decrease Fig. 14. Voltage vector selection for a 3-phase SRM
Explanat
Higher torque ripple and  Higher torque ripple,
ion
acoustic noise reduced average torque
The advantages of DTC in SRM are:
In high-performance machine Constant conduction angle
(low torque ripple), current  reduced torque ripple and  High precision torque feedback compared to conventional
overlap method is preferred lower acoustic noise control strategies such as chopping current control. This
opens possibilities for high-performance speed and position
A. Direct torque control
controller.
It is well known that direct torque control (DTC) is an  Directly controlled torque which is simple to implement by
advanced control technology firstly developed for induction using hysteresis controllers with no predetermined current
motor and is based on vector control. DTC is primarily applied information needed. This is if compared to other
to AC motors which magnetization characteristics are linear so instantaneous torque control strategies, such as current-
conventional DTC cannot be just adopted to SRM in which control-based torque sharing function and current profiling
phase excitations are independent to each other. The main idea method, where torque-current transformation is required.
of DTC is to select stator voltage vectors based on the rate of
 Commutation strategy is also not needed and the same
change of torque and flux, as shown in Fig. 13. Some
principle can be applied in any rotor position.
researchers brought this concept to SRM in [33]. The amplitude
Meanwhile, the disadvantages are:
of stator flux vector is set to be constant and torque can be
 SRM is generally singly excited and the excitation of
controlled by increasing or decreasing stator flux. The structure
additional phase together may generate negative phase
of DTC for SRM incorporates both torque and stator flux
torque and reduce total output. Therefore, a constant
hysteresis controls.
amplitude of flux vector does not have to be kept constant
in SRM, unlike in induction motors [34].
 High phase current is required to generate constant flux
which increases copper losses and reduces efficiency. This
is achieved by longer phase conduction time. Moreover, the
absence of current controller allows possibility for the
current to exceed maximum allowed value.
B. Sensorless control
SRM depends heavily on rotor position information in order
to correctly execute phase excitation. Mechanical position
sensors such as rotary encoders, optical encoders, and hall
sensors are widely used to give position feedback. However,
this adds to overall volume and costs and malfunctions may
reduce motor performance significantly which can often happen
if the motor operates in harsh environment. Therefore,
Fig. 13. Block diagram of conventional DTC sensorless control method is developed to overcome these
problems. The main idea of sensorless control in general is to
For a three-phase SRM with asymmetric half bridge use electrical parameters such as current, back-emf voltage, or
converter, there are six voltage vectors available to be selected inductance to estimate rotor position. An introduction to
as illustrated in Fig. 14. The selection of voltage vectors sensorless method in SRM has been provided in [35]. There are
AHN et al. : SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR: RESEARCH TRENDS AND OVERVIEW 345

also methods using intelligent algorithms to predict rotor variables such as rotor position and speed. Both researchers
position such as in [36] where actual flux linkage is calculated analyzed the stability and performance of the observer and
from current and voltage in real time and fed into an artificial experimentally proved it with 242 pole servo motors. The
neural network or an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference. Typically, method gave accurate rotor position with a resolution of
there are four techniques to perform sensorless control in SRM: 1/15,000 revolution.
open-loop control, passive waveform detection, active probing,
and state observer. V. NOTABLE APPLICATIONS
Conventional open-loop control of SRM deals with dwell The advantages of SRM does not only attract academic
angle which relies heavily on rotor position to synchronize with researchers but also industries. Most real-life applications are
proper firing angle. Therefore, in sensorless open-loop method, usually based on either the effort to use the drive to replace
commutation frequency is controlled. This put SRM at the same another type of motor in order to reduce cost and maintenance
place as stepper motor where it runs at an exact synchronized needs or high-speed requirement. In this section, four
speed due to numerous step angle and lack of damping. Also, significant utilization of SRM that had been commercialized
there is no measurement of rotor position. Since there is no were chosen and discussed based on their category.
feedback involved in the control, in order to improve stability,
A. Home appliance
an additional circuit can be incorporated. The open-loop
method focuses on the variation of DC link current, as shown Sir James Dyson, a British inventor, revealed what was
in [37], e.g. a sudden increase in DC-link current means there claimed as the fastest motor in the world which is a small
is an increase of load current. While this method can be switched reluctance motor in 2009 and it was considered a
considered low cost, the proposed controller has to be designed breakthrough at that time. As explained before, high-speed
differently depending on the application and not suitable at motor tends to be small in size. This motor outer diameter is
those which load changes rapidly. only 55.8mm and weighs around 139grams. The developed
Passive waveform detection method is related to the motor was dubbed DDM (Dyson digital motor) 2 and meant to
maximum and minimum values of phase current when the rotor be used in DC31 handheld vacuum cleaner with the capability
moves towards either aligned or unaligned position. to run at the speed of 104,000rpm [40-41].
Instantaneous emf changes according to the rotor position and
by observing the effect of emf modulation on current
waveform, the position can be estimated [38]. This technique
was first developed for closed-loop operation of stepper motor.
The concept of active probing is presented in Fig. 15 where
a rectangular wave voltage applied to the non-excited phase and
excitation current waveforms are shown. Current pulse
increases as phase inductance lowers and vice versa and at its
maximum value at unaligned position. If the pulse falls below
threshold, the position can be sensed and the transistor can be
instantly turned on and off. The maximum value of the current
pulse is given by (3),
𝑉𝑇 Fig. 16. Structure of Dyson digital motor [www.dyson.com.sg]
𝑖 = (3)
𝐿(𝜃) B. Industrial application
where 𝑇 is the period of voltage pulse, 𝑉 is excitation voltage,
and 𝐿(𝜃) is inductance according to rotor position. Hilti Corporation specialized in products for construction,
building, and mining industry. They reportedly use SRM in
their hammer breaker products such Hilti TE 700-AVR, TE
1000, 1500, and 3000-AVR which is claimed to be
maintenance-free for life. The structure of the motor is shown
in Fig. 17, which details are presented in [42] and [43].

Fig. 15. Active probing method

Lumsdaine and Lang introduced state observers in [39]. The

method is based on a mathematical model of a motor running
in parallel with the actual drive. The measured voltage of the Fig. 17 SRM structure for hammer breaker (Hilti) [43]
actual drive is connected to the model which calculates state
346 CES TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL MACHINES AND SYSTEMS, VOL. 2, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2018

C. Electric vehicle become variant and much more improved. For example, direct
Electric vehicle (EV) has been gaining more interest due to torque control which was primarily used in AC motors only can
the increasing problems of environmental pollution and energy now also be implemented in SRM and also sensorless control
crisis for the past few years. As described before, NEDO where rotor position is estimated and mechanical position
projects in Japan have started the development of rare-earth- sensors can be eliminated. Some notable applications are also
free motors that have to be competitive in size, power density, shortly explained. In conclusion, SRM is a viable alternative to
and efficiency to the ones with magnets. Literature in [44] and permanent magnet motors and is a good candidate for low-cost
[45] reported of such development by designing an 18/12 SRM and/or high-speed drive. It is the duty of future researchers to
that matches the performance of permanent magnet investigate solutions to the motor’s drawbacks and explore its
synchronous machine (PMSM) of the same size. The proposed potential either for research purposes or commercial products.
SRM is targeted for Toyota Prius which is a type of hybrid
electric vehicle (HEV) that uses both ICE and electric motor. REFERENCES
The prototype of the motor is shown in Fig. 18. [1] R. Jarvis, "Davidson's locomotive: How did he do it?", Engineering.
Science and Education Journal, Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 281–288, December.
1996.
[2] S. A. Nasar, "D.C.-switched reluctance motor," Electrical Engineers,
Proceedings of the Institution of, vol. 116, pp. 1048-1049, 1969.
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method for switched reluctance motor with high torque/ampere," IECON Busan). He is a Fellow of the Korean Institute of Electrical
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switched-reluctance motors without a shaft position sensor,” IEEE Trans. University, Busan, Korea, in 2017 and is
Ind. Electron., vol. IE-33, pp. 212–216, Aug. 1986. currently pursuing master degree at the same
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in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. IE-32, no. 3, pp. 215- (StM) of IEEE since 2015 and actively
222, Aug. 1985. participating in IEEE events as the chair of Kyungsung Univ.
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