Theoretical and Experimental Study of the Two-Harmonic Reluctance Machine, A New Class of Variable Speed Device

A new class of reluctance machines has been developed and tested at the Electrical Engineering Dept. of the University of Genoa. The machine structure consists of a stator similar to that of an induction machine with two three-phase windings, 2p and 4p poles respectively (p integer), and of a rotor with p poles and no winding. The machine behaves like a typical reluctance machine. The two stator windings can be supplied with variable frequencies, giving the possibility of a continuous speed regulation. A remarkable performance is that, for pl and frequency 50 Hz for both windings, the ihachine has a 6000 rpm synchronous speed, as a "single pole" machine. The complete theory of the machine. is ptesented in the paper, and the experimental results obtained on some prototypes are displayed and discussed.