Operating area of a Switched Reluctance Motor with continuous current operation

This paper shows an operation area consideration of a torque and speed region of a 50kW Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) for Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) applications. Increasing a number of turns in stator windings is effective to reduce phase current of SRM at low rotational speed, however, motor output power falls significantly at high speed because of an increased back emf. A continuous current operation can enhance output power at high rotational speed. The continuous current operation can be realized by expanding excitation angle of applied voltage. In this operation, phase current is increased, thus, motor output power is maintained at high rotational speed, which is strongly required in HEV applications. An effectiveness of the continuous current operation is shown for a 50kW SRM aimed for HEV application. The SRM is designed with competitive dimensions, efficiency, weight, voltage and current with respect to HEV IPM motors.