A novel switched reluctance motor with C-core stators

This paper presents a novel switched reluctance motor (SRM) design in which the stator is simply formed from C-cores. Unlike conventional SRMs, the windings of the new motor can be individually wound into the stator cores without complex winding equipment. Because of the inherent axial field distribution, this type of SRM requires a three-dimensional (3-D) finite-element analysis (FEA) model for detailed flux analysis. This paper proposes an approximated two-dimensional FEA model to speed up computational time. In addition, since the proper current that ensures operation in the saturated region (to maximize torque and efficiency) is often hard to determine systemically, the paper proposes a simple method to determine the optimum operating current so that one can easily decide the rated current and also obtain the maximum motor efficiency. Finally, the paper compares some characteristics of a traditional SRM with those of the proposed SRM. The comparison shows that the proposed SRM performs well in terms of torque and efficiency, and provides a higher degree of flexibility in winding design.