Classification and remediation of electrical faults in the switched reluctance drive

The switched reluctance drive is known to be fault tolerant, but it is not fault free. The goals of this study are the systematic classification of all electrical faults, short-and open-circuits, in the switched reluctance drive (excluding the controller itself), and the investigation of fault patterns and possible remediation. Each situation is analyzed via finite element analysis, and/or experiments. The transient effects during the faults are described. Possible remediation schemes other than disabling the faulted phase are explored. There is a particular focus on switch short-circuit for which new results are presented.