The effects of magnetic circuit geometry on characteristics of switched reluctance motors

In this paper the static (flux linkage and torque) and steady state characteristics (speed, current and torque) of the switched reluctance motor (SRM) is investigated for four magnetic structures with various combinations of stator and rotor poles: 8/6 (basic configuration), 16/12 (`double poles´ configuration), 16/14 and 16/18 (`toothed poles´ configurations). The static characteristics are calculated for different rotor positions and excitation currents using numerical finite element method (FEM) for magnetostatic field analysis. Dynamic characteristics are calculated using specially developed software routines in package Matlab/Simulink. The purpose of this paper is to show the effects of the magnetic circuit structures on static and steady state characteristics of the SRM. Validation of the computational methods was carried out by comparing the calculated static and steady state characteristics with the ones measured on 8/6 SRM prototype.