A rotary-linear switched reluctance motor for automotive applications

In the paper a rotary-linear switched reluctance motor is proposed and investigated by means of advanced numerical simulations. The motor can generate two degrees of freedom movements: the same axis can both rotate and displace linearly. It is mechanically robust, simple to construct and easy to operate also in hostile automotive environment. The stator is built up modularly from precisely shifted three usual 8 poles switched reluctance motor stators and the rotor of several common 12 poles rotor stacks of the same machine. The complex structure of the motor is analyzed in depth by means of numeric field computations based on the finite element method analysis. The proposed rotary-linear motor machine is expected to be useful in diverse advanced automotive applications where both linear and rotary motion is required and the space at disposal is reduced.