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Most of the existing diagnosis techniques for interturn short circuits (ITSCs) in switched reluctance motors (SRMs) suffer from three major issues. 1) The problem of lower sensitivity where the system cannot detect an ITSC if a lower number of turns are short-circuited; 2) Interference of load variation on the detection reliability in which the fault index might initiate false alarm without any fault; 3) The dependency of the diagnosis system on the control strategy on which the motor is operating. This article proposes a novel method to diagnose ITSCs in SRMs independent of control schemes with better sensitivity and reliability using the signal injection technique. In SRMs, not all the phases take part in the torque production at any instant. The idle or inactive phase is injected with a high-frequency (HF) voltage signal for a preselected injection ratio within an electrical cycle. Any change in the winding parameters owing to an ITSC fault is deciphered by monitoring the HF currents generated in the phase windings. The results are validated experimentally for a four-phase 8/6 SRM employing two control strategies: 1) chopped current control and 2) angle position control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a wireless resolver is proposed and implemented for wireless switched reluctance (SR) motors, which can detect the rotor position and transfer the information to the primary side without involving any battery storage or active components at the secondary side. The key is to integrate wireless power transfer (WPT) into a variable reluctance resolver to detect and transmit the rotor position. Compared with previous wireless SR motors adopting the Hall effect position encoder and Bluetooth communication, the robustness is highly improved, and the communication delay caused by the connection interval can be solved. Therefore, the proposed system takes the definite advantages of better dynamic performance and sealability. Besides, there is no need to specially design the SR motor, as all existing SR motors and other similar kinds of motors can readily employ this wireless resolver. An experimental prototype has been built for verification, which works well from 100 to 900 rpm with 20 mm WPT distance, and the additional power for position detection can be limited to 1.05 W while the motor consumes 54 W. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a leaf spring insertion to the stator back iron is proposed to reduce vibration and acoustic noise in a switched reluctance machine (SRM). The back iron of the tooth tip is curved out and the material made up of carbon spring steel is placed to dampen the vibration due to radial force. A 6/4 stator/rotor pole SRM is designed and its natural vibration mode frequencies are determined through finite-element analyses. The optimal current waveform is applied to the SRM model using the multidisciplinary coupled simulation method to determine the radial force with the harmonic orders. In the final step, the proposed leaf spring architecture is optimized to achieve the most dampening for the effective radial force harmonic orders. The simulation and experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of the leaf spring insertion in reducing the noise and vibration in SRMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their robustness and adaptability, position estimators based on the extended Kalman filter have been used in permanent magnet synchronous motors for decades. The time has come to extend their use to reluctance motors as well and this work focuses on the elements that hinder the transition. All passes through the availability of an accurate and analytical magnetic model, which is obtained by Artificial Intelligence tools. It is proved that the sensorless control of synchronous reluctance motors using the extended Kalman filter is possible over broad speed and torque ranges. The experimental session compares different implementation possibilities, concluding with the proposal of a new hybrid algorithm that greatly reduces the computational load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an online diagnosis scheme for transistor faults of asymmetric half-bridge converter (AHBC) in switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives. In order to extract more information from the phase current to identify faults, based on the conventional current measurement method, two novel current measurement methods are presented by reconstructing current sensors. According to the novel current measurement methods, a current prediction method is raised. The phase current at the kth sampling time is available so that the estimated current can be calculated. The fault can be detected and located by analyzing the given and actual switching states, which are deduced by comparing the measured and estimated currents. Compared with existing methods, the proposed scheme can be applied to diagnosis of multiple faults in n-phase AHBC, which can operate at various control strategies and chopping modes. With a single current sensor in each phase, the scheme will not increase the cost and complexity of the SRM drive. Furthermore, the scheme does not require complicated computation, making it easy to implement online. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to the absence of rotor windings and permanent magnets, switched reluctance motors have a small weight construction. The integration of a modular power converter in a switched reluctance motor leads to a highly compact and fault-tolerant motor drive with small weight and high power density. In this article, a polygon-retrofitted integration topology is proposed for switched reluctance motors. Both the switched reluctance motor and the power converter are cooled with one shared cooling circuit. The power converter is designed and implemented using silicon carbide technology for its low losses and small thermal resistance. The proposed integration topology is extensively studied using multiphysics modeling and experimental measurements on a fully integrated rotating setup. A highly compact and power dense drive of 3.1 kW/L is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a low-ripple continuous control set (CCS) model predictive torque control (MPTC) method for switched reluctance machines (SRMs) is proposed. The inherent high nonlinearity of the SRMs makes it difficult to solve the optimization problem in the CCS MPTC algorithm analytically. To address this issue, an equivalent linear SRM model is adopted, and the cost function is also properly modified. Then, with the torque boundary values provided by executing the voltage vectors of an improved switching table, the optimization problem in the CCS MPTC method becomes simple and analytically solvable. The Lagrange multiplier method is employed to solve this optimization problem analytically and generate the optimum torque reference values for the active phases. Based on the estimated torque variation rates, the duty cycles for each phase are calculated. Extensive simulation and experimental tests are carried out in a four-phase 8/6 SRM setup. These testing results reveal that the proposed CCS MPTC method shows much lower torque ripples and current ripples in a wide speed range with a low computational burden than the existing finite control set MPTC methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A typical flywheel energy storage system (FESS) includes an electrical machine, a flywheel, and magnetic bearings, which are independent of each other. Therefore, the structure of FESS is complicated, which leads to the problems of high cost and low integration. This article presents a novel stator PM excitation solid rotor machine (SPE-SRM) for FESS, which integrates an electrical machine, flywheels, and a magnetic bearing. The design method of the SPE-SRM is presented specifically. First, the structure and operation principle of the SPE-SRM are illustrated. Second, the design and optimization of the flywheel-rotor are presented with considering of power, energy storage, and mechanical strength. Third, the magnetic equivalent circuit of the SPE-SRM is established to simplify the design. Besides, the armature reaction and leakage flux factor are investigated. Fourth, the performance indexes, including torque, suspension force, no-load back electromotive force (back-EMF), losses, and temperature rise are fully analyzed by the finite element analysis. Finally, a 22 kW prototype is manufactured and tested. The rationality of the concept and design is validated by experiments. The SPE-SRM has the merits of high integration, robust structure, and low cost, so it has the potential for wide application in FESS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a circulating-current-excited switched reluctance generator system using a standard diode rectifier is proposed and examined. It features a dc power source connected in series with the ring-connected windings, which provides the dc-bias current as the excitation current in the windings. Using a series-connected dc power source, a dc-bias current is easily realized in the ac winding. Compared with the existing machine having dc-bias in the ac winding, the proposed generator can provide dc power with a standard diode rectifier. Less active legs and no rotor position sensor are needed for the control of the circulating current of the proposed generator, which increases the reliability of the generation system. The system configuration and the operation principle are introduced in detail. Then, the electromagnetic performance of the proposed generation system is analyzed at both open-circuit and load conditions. The asymmetric current distributions are deduced and verified by the simulations. At last, the prototype is tested under varied operation conditions and the experiments agree well with the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiphysics analysis and experimental validation of acoustic noise reduction in a high pole count, high power, switched reluctance machine (SRM), through skewing are explored in detail in this work. An iterative optimization strategy covering electromagnetic, structural, and thermal domains is proposed to investigate the effect of different skewing methods and angles on a 24-stator slot/16-rotor pole (24/16) SRM rated at 100 kW. The contributions of this work are twofold. First, electromagnetic impact, considering average torque, torque ripple, radial and tangential air gap forces, of symmetric and asymmetric skewing on stator and rotor is studied in this work. Second, the impact of skewing methods on acoustic noise and vibration performance is studied and presented in detail. The study reveals that skewing both the stator and rotor by the same amount has superior electromagnetic performance over other types of skewing. Multiphysics simulations conducted, predict a 10.5 dBA reduction in the acoustic noise, compared to a baseline design with no skew, for an optimized rotor-stator skewing angle of 13.75°. Finally, 100 kW prototypes of the baseline and the optimized skewed SRM were constructed and subjected to wide speed range testing. Simulation and test results closely follow each other and validate the effectiveness of the proposed skew design in mitigating acoustic noise and vibration in high pole count SRMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel model predictive torque control (MPTC) method for switched reluctance machines (SRMs) is proposed based on the equivalent linear SRM model and the improved switching table. First, an improved switching table with only six switching states is developed based on the inductance characteristics. The adoption of this improved switching table not only reduces the computational burden by 25% but also improves the torque control performance and system efficiency at high-speed region. However, the look-up-table (LUT) based MPTC methods suffer from occupying numerous storage space. To ease this issue, the simple linear SRM model is utilized. The flux-linkage and torque equivalent transformations are introduced to address the difference between the linear and nonlinear SRM models. With these transformations, the MPTC realized on the linear SRM model is proposed. Compared to 1530 storage units consumption to store three two-dimensional (2-D) LUTs in the LUT-based MPTC methods, the proposed method only occupies 228 storage units. Experimental results on an 8/6 SRM setup verify that the proposed method effectively eliminates the commutation torque ripple with lower execution time, less storage space, and improves the torque control performance at a high-speed range compared with the conventional LUT-based method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes and implements an integrated wireless motor system using the laminated magnetic coupler (LMC) and commutative-resonant control (CRC). Prominently, a unique wireless power transfer system is developed to directly drive the switched reluctance motor (SRM) over an extendable distance with all controls centralizing in the transmitter. Differing from the multifrequency wireless motor system, the proposed system first employs the single resonant frequency to wirelessly drive a multiphase SRM through the single power transfer channel. Particularly, two orthogonal bipolar coils and one unipolar coil are skillfully integrated and naturally decoupled to form an LMC which acts as the transmitter, intermediate, and receiver coils, respectively. By utilizing the CRC to sequentially energize coils in the transmitter, the SRM phase windings can be properly excited by relevant coils in the receiver, which takes the distinct advantages of balanced phase currents, flexible transfer distance, high integration, and free maintenance. A prototype is constructed with the system efficiency of 89.14% and motor speed of 1500 rpm under the distance of 200 mm. Both theoretical and experimental results are provided to validate the feasibility of the proposed system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diode bridge rectifier fed asymmetric half-bridge converter (AHBC) is conventionally employed to drive switched reluctance motors (SRMs), which leads to poor grid-side power quality. In the proposed system, a topology made up of a voltage-sourced converter and an AHBC is employed to drive the high-speed SRM. Stable SRM operation can be obtained by manipulating the active power flowing to motor side, and on the basis of that, the grid-side power quality is enhanced by directly manipulating input reactive power. Predictive deadbeat control with disturbance observer is employed to follow the power references, thereby achieving controllable speed, energy feedback, near-unity grid-side power factor, and low grid-side current distortion simultaneously. Additionally, an improved asymmetric modulation method is developed for switching frequency reduction. Experiments are carried out to test the proposed drive system in steady and dynamic conditions. Performance comparisons validate the improvement of the proposed high-speed SRM drive system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interturn short-circuit fault of stator winding is a common failure mode in switched reluctance motors (SRMs), which can severely harm the operation of the motor. In this article, a novel method for diagnosing the interturn short-circuit fault in the current chopping mode is proposed, which is suitable for online monitoring and protection of SRMs. The proposed method achieves a fast response and high sensitivity and can mitigate the interference of load conditions on detection reliability. Moreover, this method is based on phase currents, which does not require additional sensor or detection circuits. Meanwhile, the effects of interturn fault location in the stator winding on the motor flux and motor parameters are analyzed in detail through finite-element analysis, which is helpful to establish a reliable diagnostics technique for various fault conditions. Experimentations based on an 8/6 four-phase SRM with special windings designed to simulate interturn short circuit conditions are conducted, and the results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a method to reduce the torque ripple in an 8/6 four-phase switched reluctance motor (SRM). The proposed scheme introduces a nonlinear modulating factor dependent on the rotor position and magnitude of the phase currents. This factor manipulates the currents in two adjacent phases during commutation and reduces the torque ripple effectively. Unlike the conventionally available torque-sharing functions, the proposed method instantaneously modulates every phase current obtained mathematically based on the other phase current in order to maintain the net torque constant. The proposed method requires minimal offline analysis and offers maximum possible torque with a minimal ripple. The method is simple and easy to implement due to a low computational burden. The proposed algorithm is implemented using MATLAB/Simulink software and is also validated experimentally on a 0.6-hp 8/6 SRM using a field-programmable-gate-arrays-based hardware setup developed in the laboratory. Typical results are presented and compared with the existing techniques. A torque ripple of $\approx 8\%$ has been achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the design methods and performance optimization of segmented-double-stator switched reluctance machine (SDS-SRM). First, two segmented U-shaped single-stator SRMs are introduced, including inner-rotor and outer-rotor constructions. In order to enhance the torque and power density, these two kinds of single-stator SRMs are combined together to constitute an SDS-SRM. Then, the relationships of torque ripple coefficient with the mechanical offset angles of the inner and outer rotor teeth are investigated to obtain the optimal rotor structure, and the corresponding conduction phase sequences for double-stator excitation mode are also analyzed. Furthermore, the flux distributions of the inner and outer stators with different coil magnetic polarities configurations are researched, and it reveals that the phase windings both on inner and outer stators with NSSNNSSN polarities have better magnetic field decoupling characteristics. To evaluate the final topology of the proposed SDS-SRM, the static magnetic characteristics and dynamic performances are presented. Finally, the SDS-SRM prototype is manufactured and tested to validate the theory and simulation analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an analytical method (AM) based on the air-gap magnetomotive force (MMF) permeance model is proposed to predict the nonlinear instantaneous torque of switched reluctance machines (SRMs). The analytical expression of the air-gap MMF is first obtained from the winding function and current profile, while the air-gap magnetic permeance considering the double-sided slotting effects is also derived. Then, the nonsaturated field distribution along the air-gap circumference is presented based on which the instantaneous torque can be calculated from the Lorentz force law. Furthermore, the model is enhanced with a saturation distribution factor to include the nonlinear characteristics. The proposed method is free from preliminary data or empirical coefficient and benefits from the simplified model and solution. The AM will be validated by the two-dimensional finite-element method based on four SRMs with different structures. Moreover, an SRM prototype is manufactured for experimental verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Switched reluctance motors are frequently quoted for electric and hybrid electric vehicle traction. However, high torque ripple is a common restraining disadvantage. This article proposes a design method for model following sliding mode as cruise controller, considering a direct instantaneous torque controller as part of the controlled plant. In addition, a back-electromotive force cancelation is incorporated by modifying the torque reference using the developed model. A minimum torque ripple point tracking (MTRPT) that actuates over the turn-off angle is proposed through an adaptation from the steepest descent maximum power point tracking algorithm. The turn-on angle is also controlled, aiming for enhanced torque regulation. The cruise controller is Lyapunov stable, robust to parameter variations, and is capable of rejecting load disturbances. Experimental results show that the MTRPT convergence time is around $\text{2.5 s}$ for a load step and around $\text{1.625 s}$ for a speed step. Besides, the speed tracking capability of the proposed system returns an MAE of 0.9223% and 1.0884% for the ECE-R15 and for the EUDC driving schedules, respectively. The MTRPT is capable of reducing the torque ripple by 14.6% in low speeds (ECE-R15) and by 10.1% at high speeds (EUDC). The results show that the proposed system is well founded for electric and hybrid electric vehicles applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM), torque ripple is a critical issue, especially under low speeds. Torque ripple minimization (TRM) control aims to find the optimal currents to be injected to cancel the existing torque ripple. In this article, we propose an optimal current modeling technique for the TRM control. In the proposed technique, torque harmonics are modeled by using a set of polynomials in which their degree parameters are determined by the theoretical torque model and their coefficients are determined by the experimental torque model. The optimal current model is derived from the identified polynomials to minimize the torque harmonics and machine loss in which there is no need of machine parameters. The proposed approach is both computation and memory efficient as the optimal currents are calculated from equations, which eliminates the need for the time-consuming optimization procedure and memory-consuming lookup table. The proposed approach is fast and efficient for the TRM control, which is critical to practical applications with fast-changing loads. Extensive experiments and comparisons are conducted on a laboratory PMSM to validate the proposed modeling technique under various operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For traditional 12/8 bearingless switched reluctance motors (BSRMs), the coupling between torque and levitation increases the complexity of control. For the turbomachinery application, 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) BSRMs stabilized by extra 3-DOF active magnetic bearings are required. In this article, an improved BSRM with 4 rotor poles and 12 stator poles is proposed to realize 4-DOF radial levitation, and the torque dead zone is compensated because that two rotors and these poles are assemble with 15 mechanical degree shifted. The decoupling of torque and radial levitation is realized simultaneously. Moreover, the operation principle of axial reluctance force is analyzed for passive levitation in the axial direction. Various experiments were completed to verify the performance of the proposed BSRM, and the prototype achieved stable levitation of the rotor in 10 000 r/min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an online torque ripple minimization (TRM) technique using a fuzzy system (FS)-based d-axis current design for interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drives. Existing control-based TRM techniques generally employ optimization algorithms to design the dq-axis currents that attenuate the torque ripples. However, complex iterations applied for the optimization algorithms increase computational complexity, which limits the applicability of such TRM techniques under transient state of the IPMSM drives. Unlike with existing methods, the proposed TRM technique designs reference d-axis current using a computationally efficient algorithm and remarkably minimizes the torque ripples. Moreover, the reference d-axis current is designed online based on an FS to keep the stator current of the IPMSM inside the rated value, especially at the transient state. The proposed TRM strategy is validated through simulation and experimental investigations by using a MATLAB/Simulink software and a prototype IPMSM drive with TI TMS320F28335 digital signal processor. Comparative theoretical and experimental investigations prove that the proposed TRM technique is computationally efficient and ensures more reduced ripples in the electromagnetic torque and dq-axis currents with d-axis current significantly close to zero than conventional maximum torque per ampere based technique without TRM and conventional current control-based TRM technique under critical load conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a new torque sharing function (TSF) method is proposed for torque ripple reduction in switched reluctance machines (SRMs). The proposed TSF achieves lower current tracking error by establishing a new current reference generation strategy. The phase current reference is first derived from the torque command using offline calculations and also from the phase current response that is obtained from the dynamic model of the SRM. Then, an optimization problem is formulated to shape the current reference for the objective of minimizing the torque ripple and copper losses, while maintaining the required average output torque at the given operating speed. The dynamic simulation of the SRM model is also utilized in the optimization problem. Compared to the existing conventional and optimization-based TSFs, the proposed TSF exhibits lower current tracking error due to the consideration of the current dynamics. Better torque–speed performance with improved average torque and reduced torque ripple is also obtained, especially during commutation. Simulations and experiments under different operating conditions are carried out to verify the proposed TSF method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an improved direct instantaneous torque control (DITC) based on adaptive terminal sliding mode control (ATSMC) is proposed to suppress torque ripple and enhance the anti-interference ability for switched reluctance motors (SRMs). The proposed speed controller used in the outer loop of DITC is based on the rate of change in load torque. The state of the system converges quickly to the equilibrium point and realizes fast output of the given torque without known disturbance upper bound. Moreover, a novel reaching law is proposed to reduce torque ripple and startup time. The stability of the adaptive terminal sliding mode motion is verified by using the Lyapunov function. The improved DITC system is implemented on a 16/10 segmented-rotor SRM. Compared with sliding mode control and terminal sliding mode control, the proposed ATSMC in the DITC system behave with better performances in aspects of the speed and torque response, antiinterference ability, robustness, and torque ripple suppression. Simulation and experimental results are given to verify the effectiveness of the improved DITC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A drive topology composed of a T-type single-phase three-level voltage source rectifier (VSR) and a four-level switched reluctance motor (SRM) converter is proposed in this article. The commonly used diode bridge rectifier presenting degraded power quality is replaced by the VSR to drive the SRM converter. Compared with the conventional split-dc converter, the four-level SRM converter of the proposed drive topology adopts one more switch and one more diode for each phase, but two more operation modes are formed. With the double-voltage demagnetization mode of the four-level SRM converter, the tailing time of demagnetization current is significantly reduced, which increases the utilization of inductance increasing region. All the operation modes of this converter can be implemented successfully, even in the multiphase excitation region. Moreover, a centralized control strategy is proposed to regulate the VSR and SRM together, within which the speed and grid-side power factor are regulated by the d-axis and q-axis component of grid-side current in VSR, respectively. Most importantly, the bidirectional energy flow is realized. An idea-proofed testbench is constructed. The results obtained from the comparative experiments confirm the validity of the proposed drive topology and its control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to combine the advantages of modularity and hybrid-excitation for motor torque and power density enhancement, this article proposes a 12/4 modular-topology, permanent magnet (PM) assist, hybrid-excitation switched reluctance machine (HESRM) with both segmented-stator and -rotor. The machine topology and basic operating principle are presented. Three key parameters of the machine are optimized for assessment on the torque production. The three-dimensional finite-element analysis is employed to consider the effects of end winding and core saturation. The static magnetic characteristics and dynamic performances are simulated and compared with a 12/4 segmented SRM (SSRM) without PM and a 12/10 segmented-stator HESRM. Two prototypes of the proposed 12/4 HESRM and a 12/10 segmented-stator HESRM with the same size are manufactured and developed for experimental verification. Both results show that the proposed motor can achieve higher dynamic average torque and higher power/torque density at high-speed operation. It also has a stronger starting capability, more rapid response for command changes, as well as better stability and tracking features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial application of the switched reluctance motor (SRM) is limited by its high torque ripples caused by the doubly salient structure. In this article, an improved direct torque control (DTC) with sliding mode controller and observer is developed to reduce the torque ripples of a four-phase SRM. First, a sliding mode controller based on a new reaching law is developed for designing a sliding mode speed controller (SMSC) for the DTC system. An antidisturbance sliding mode observer (ADSMO) is then proposed and combined with the SMSC to build a composite antidisturbance speed control strategy. Moreover, detailed simulation validations are carried out to reveal the effectiveness of the new reaching law, SMSC and ADSMO. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the performance of the proposed SMSC–ADSMO in a DTC system with a four-phase SRM prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a variable flux reluctance machine (VFRM) with dc field excitation and modular structure is proposed and it exhibits controllable flux, simplified manufacture, better fault tolerant capability, and potentially reduced material consumption. Its operational theory is illustrated by using flux modulation principles, and the working harmonics considering the modular structure are analyzed. Besides, the winding factors of modular VFRM are derived considering the flux gap width. The parameters are optimized by two-dimensional finite element method to maximize the back electromotive force (back-EMF) and the ratio of phase self-inductance to mutual inductance. Moreover, the electromagnetic performance including open circuit air-gap flux distributions, open circuit air-gap flux densities, flux linkage, back-EMF, inductance of armature windings, output characteristics, loss, power factor, and efficiency-map are compared for 12s10r and 12s14r nonmodular and modular VFRM. Additionally, the fault including short circuit and open circuit fault are analyzed. Finally, a modular 12s14r VFRM prototype is manufactured and tested to validate the theoretical and finite-element analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a power converter topology with integrated driving and charging capability of switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive for electric vehicle (EV) application. In the driving mode, the bus voltage can be adjusted flexibly by the front-end buck converter, which meets the requirements of the speed open-loop and closed-loop control. Besides, higher voltage demagnetization can be achieved by connecting the upper freewheeling diodes of the asymmetric half-bridge converter to the battery bank, thus can accelerate the demagnetization process, extend the dwell angle, and enhance the output of the motor. In battery charging mode, a bridgeless rectifier converter is constructed by utilizing two-phase windings of the SRM and the existing power devices of integrated power converter, without additional inductors and charging units. The battery charging and power factor correction control can be realized by closed-loop control of charging current. Detailed analysis and experiments on a 1 kW 12/8 structure prototype SRM validate the effectiveness of the proposed technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an optimized direct instantaneous torque control (DITC) scheme for switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives with a novel adaptive dynamic commutation strategy, which can effectively reduce torque ripple and improve system efficiency. To minimize torque ripple, two operational modes are developed for torque tracking during commutation regions. In Mode I, the torque error is compensated by the outgoing phase during the current buildup region of the incoming phase; in Mode II, the torque error is compensated by the incoming phase during the demagnetization region of the outgoing phase. To implement the proposed DITC scheme in a more effective conduction range, the commutation instants are dynamically adjusted according to the varied operation conditions. For each phase, the turn-on and turn-off angles are modified in each electrical cycle by a torque error regulator and a phase current endpoint detector, respectively. By employing the proposed strategy, the torque generation capability is fully utilized for minimized torque ripple, and the phase currents work within a more effective conduction range for improved system efficiency. The simulation and experiments on a three-phase 12/8 SRM are carried out to verify the feasibility and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel reliability evaluation scheme to achieve quantitative reliability calculation for power converter in the whole operation region of switched reluctance motor system is proposed. First, the electrical model is built to obtain electrical stress and fault-tolerance capability in the Matlab/Simulink environment. Second, the thermal circuit model is performed to get the thermal stress of power converter quickly. Third, the dynamical Markov model with a novel failure criterion is applied to achieve quantitative reliability calculation by characterizing the fault-tolerance capability and thermal stress. The proposed failure criterion can simplify the model to decrease the number of states and avoid the divergence of results, especially the interconnected relationship between the three models is key emphasized. Next, the proposed reliability evaluation scheme is carried out to explore the reliability of power converter under different chopping modes. Finally, simulations in conjunction with experiment verify the validity of the proposed reliability evaluation scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on resilient and compact powertrains for On-the-Move electrical energy technologies. Topics include the industry moving toward applications with power electronics to reduce the cost and enhance the performance of electrical energy technologies for transportation electrification, such as electric aircraft, electric vehicles, drones, and robots; and editors provides topics including compact power converters for onboard charging and vehicle traction applications.

Permanent magnets (PMs) have been widely used in different types of electrical machines to improve their performance. This article introduces a novel multi-tooth hybrid-excited switched reluctance motor (MT-HESRM) with PMs placed between the end teeth of the adjacent modules. Thanks to the innovative method of embedding PMs, a unique design is developed. First, the operating principle of the motor is explained, and the magnetic circuit model of the motor is analyzed. The magnetic characteristics in terms of flux density, flux linkage, inductance, and torque are obtained and compared with those of its PM-less counterpart. The mathematical model of the reluctance and PM torques is presented. The reluctance and PM torques are decoupled using the finite-element analysis, and the torque contribution of the PMs is discussed. The steady-state operations of both motors with both current chopping and single-pulse controls are analyzed and compared under different speeds. Finally, both motors are manufactured, the laboratory tests are done, and the experimental results are extracted. Both the simulation and test results elucidate that the MT-HESRM, which has only three small PMs as auxiliary flux sources, has unique features in terms of high output power and torque with a negligible cogging torque. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel multiobjective system level optimization method to achieve the best performance of switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive systems. First, the multiobjective optimization problem for the SRM drive systems is defined. Then, all parameters of the drive systems, including the motor level and control level, are divided into three subspaces according to their influences on the objectives. Finally, the optimization of each subspace is performed sequentially until a convergence criterion is met. Then, the optimal solution can be chosen from the Pareto solutions according to a selection criterion. Meanwhile, the sensitivity analysis, the approximate models, and the genetic algorithm are employed to reduce the computation cost. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, an SRM drive system with a segmented-rotor SRM (SSRM) and the angle position control method is investigated. This is a high-dimensional system level optimization problem with ten parameters. The finite-element model (FEM) results are verified by the experiment results. The optimal solution has been listed and verified by the FEM. From the discussion, it can be found that the proposed optimization method is efficient and optimized SSRM drive system has high efficiency and low torque ripple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid-rotor switched reluctance machines (SRM), having the rotor machined from a single piece of metal, are one of the few viable options for motoring and/or generation under harsh operating conditions, including high speeds, high shaft temperature, and corrosive environment. Apart from double saliency and high degree of magnetic saturation as in any SRM, significant core losses due to high eddy currents, even under static conditions, make the characterization and modeling of solid-rotor SRM challenging. The objective of this article is to understand the magnetic characteristics of a solid-rotor SRM through extensive experimental studies and to develop a stator-side model for the machine which adequately captures its magnetic behavior. First, the flux-linkage characteristics of the solid-rotor SRM under test are measured over a wide range of excitation conditions and rotor positions. Applying a computationally efficient decomposition technique on each set of experimental data, the measured winding current is resolved into magnetizing and core-loss components to obtain a stator-side model of the machine. The proposed model is useful to predict the winding current and core-loss under different excitation conditions, which is necessary for simulation and performance prediction. The proposed method is more accurate than the existing methods, while being simple and fast to implement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an universal sensorless starting scheme considering magnetic saturation effects is proposed to control the switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives. In this approach, the full-cycle unsaturated inductance can be reconstructed by converting the saturated incremental inductance into the unsaturated inductance with a simple mathematical model in the conduction region. Based on the reconstructed three-phase full-cycle unsaturated inductance, the inductance vector coordinate transformation method and the linear region inductance model based method can be applied for estimating the rotor position even under high load starting case. To verify the validity of the proposed methods, experiments have been implemented in a 1-kW three-phase 12/8 structure SRM prototype. The experimental results verify that the unsaturated inductance reconstruction scheme can transfer the nonlinear magnetic saturation problem into an unsaturation problem, and thus the rotor position estimation at the sensorless starting state can be simplified. The method can realize the initial position estimation and reliable sensorless starting control even under load conditions with only very simple initial inductance data acquisition, position partition logics design, and mathematic modeling. In addition, as the back-electromotive force is eliminated indirectly in the inductance calculation process, the adaptable speed range can also be extended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a position estimation method is proposed to realize sensorless control of planar switched reluctance motor (PSRM) with core loss. First, a square-wave voltage generated through bipolar pulsewidth modulation (PWM) is injected into the idle phase of a PSRM, thereby generating core loss. The corresponding core-loss average power (CLAP), which contains position information, is calculated in real time. Then, depending on the six-phase CLAP, the initial position can be estimated for the PSRM startup. To stabilize the position estimation in different regions of pole pitches, position data measured in a long stroke are utilized to determine a function mapping from the CLAP with respect to position. Furthermore, a sensorless control system and commutation strategy are designed. Finally, the capability of different methods for position estimation and sensorless control of a PSRM system are experimentally investigated. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified through the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate mover position is important for a planar switched reluctance motor (PSRM) to achieve precision positioning; however, position sensors are susceptible to the influence from harsh conditions and are relatively expensive. In this article, an assistant-mover-based position estimation method is proposed to increase the reliability and reduce the cost of a PSRM system. The method is based on a mapping relationship between the flux density and position of the assistant mover. First, the configuration of the assistant movers is presented. Then, an analytical model of the flux density of the assistant mover is developed by using an equivalent magnetic circuit method. Based on the analytical model, the parameters of the assistant mover are determined. According to the flux density characteristics, a position estimation algorithm with the advantages of not requiring previous experimental data, simple computation, and small memory consumption is developed. Moreover, considering the deviation in the characteristics of each assistant mover, a compensation strategy is proposed to obtain better position estimation accuracy. Finally, the proposed method is implemented with the PSRM system. The effectiveness of the proposed position estimation method is verified experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a new asymmetric neutral-point diode-clamped (NPC) multilevel converter for a four-phase switched reluctance motor drive. The inbuilt NPC clamping capacitors are used for both voltage level clamping and also as dc rail voltage-boosting capacitors to increase the output power of the motor, particularly for high-speed electric vehicle applications. The new converter allows regenerative energy to be recovered back to the dc supply for rapid machine braking, thus increasing overall drive efficiency. Analysis of the different modes of converter operation, along with design equations for sizing the voltage-boosting capacitors, is detailed. The effect of capacitance on boost voltage and increased motor base speed is presented. Simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to increase structure compactness, critical rotor speed, and output torque of existing 12/12 bearingless switched reluctance motor (BSRM) with axial-biased permanent magnet, an improved modular permanent magnet BSRM is comprehensively investigated. First, basic structure and operation principle for torque and suspending force are briefly introduced. Second, magnetic design, including torque and suspending force, is taken into account. In addition, basic size estimation, self-starting capability, maximum suspending force, and selection of secondary air-gap are comprehensively considered in design. Third, several characteristics, such as torque, suspending force, etc., are deeply analyzed. Finally, a prototype motor is manufactured based on the above-mentioned analysis and design method. And the implemented experiment results show that the improved structure has good performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively find an optimal solution in the development process of electrical machines, it is essential to predict machine iron loss and thermal behavior in the predesign stage. Most existing publications only consider thermal behavior by roughly limiting the maximum current density. However, especially for high-speed application, iron loss can also be an essential part in thermal-behavior estimation. This paper proposes a simplified model to efficiently calculate iron loss and thermal behavior in the design procedure of switched reluctance machines. For this purpose, a maximum coenergy loop control method is implemented to facilitate the estimation of flux waveform and machine torque. Three different iron loss calculation methods are compared in terms of accuracy and time. Besides, a simplified lumped parameter thermal network is applied for machine sizing. Furthermore, the impact of number of turns and peak magnetomotive force on the losses and machine sizing is discussed. The efficiency and power density of various machine geometries are comparatively analyzed. Finally, the accuracy of the simplified model is verified by comparison with finite element simulations and experiment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel position sensorless control for 6/4 switched reluctance motors (SRMs) using only one-phase current sensor in medium and high speed. In order to eliminate phase voltage sensors, a virtual phase voltage is established to replace the real-time phase voltage in the whole conduction cycle, so as to calculate the phase flux linkage which is called virtual flux linkage. A nonlinear model is utilized to estimate the reference flux linkage-curve of any rotor position. With only one-phase current sensor, the determination of turn off angle position and phase commutation position is achieved by the comparison of reference flux linkage and virtual flux linkage. The speed estimation is performed by two reference flux linkage-current curves at particular rotor positions. Based on the obtained turn off pulse of the present phase and the turn on pulse of next phase, the remaining trigger pulse signals of three phases are derived from a delay-time strategy. The proposed scheme requires only one-phase current sensor, without any pulse injection or complicated decoupling algorithm, achieving a simple and cost-effective drive. Simulations and experiments are carried out on a 6/4-pole prototype SRM drive system to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed sensorless control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-known that current and radial vibration harmonic may cause resonance and will thus cause severe vibration and acoustic noise in a switched reluctance motor (SRM). However, not each order of harmonic will cause resonance. It has not been fully discussed which order of current and radial vibration harmonic is the most important. This paper proposes an analytical method to derive the most important order of current and radial vibration, which lays significant foundation for resonance reduction method. Then, influence of different switch angles on current and radial vibration is analytically derived and comprehensively discussed. Based on that, resonance can be reduced by optimal switch angle selection considering efficiency sacrifice. Both simulations and experiments on a three-phase sample SRM have verified the correctness of the analytical method and effectiveness of the optimal switch angle selection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an electrothermal-based junction temperature estimation model is proposed for an asymmetric half-bridge converter of a switched reluctance motor drive system. In the current chopping control mode, there exists a particularly uneven temperature distribution on converters due to not only the thermal coupling effects and dissipating boundary conditions, but also the different device losses in the same phase bridge. For the purpose of precise estimation for junction temperature, first, the power loss of converter is accurately calculated by the interpolation method with the help of Simulink and LTspice. Second, the thermal coupling effects and dissipating boundary conditions are analyzed in the three-dimensional finite-element method (FEM) model. According to the step power response extraction, a coupling impedance matrix is used to describe the nonnegligible thermal coupling effects between devices, and the complete heatsink can be decoupled into multiple subdivisions that represent the different heat dissipating boundary conditions. Then, with coupling impedances and subheatsink impedances in series, a compact RC network model can be built for junction temperature estimation. Consequently, analytical investigation in conjunction with FEM simulation and experiment measurements demonstrate the validity of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a promising cost-effective phase current detection scheme for different multiphase switched reluctance motors (SRMs) by employing the multiplexed current sensors. According to the phase current characteristics for the odd-numbered multiphase SRM with m phases and even-numbered multiphase SRM with n phases, the phase windings are specially divided into (m + 1)/2 and n/2 groups, respectively, and each group shares one Hall-effect current sensor. By building the matrix functions to express the relationship between phase currents and sensor currents, the phase currents can be calculated in real time with a simple algorithm and fewer current sensors. Compared to existing phase current detection schemes, the developed method has high universality and can achieve the intact phase current detection without losing any excitation, freewheeling, and demagnetization currents. Moreover, the presented method is easy to implement without any converter change and pulse injection, which shows great potential for massive industrial application to avoid the voltage penalty, current distortion, higher switching loss, and further electromagnetic interference issues. The simulation and experiments are carried out to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the developed phase current detection scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direct torque control (DTC) method was introduced into the switched reluctance motor to reduce its inherent output torque ripple. However, the conventional DTC method produces negative torque more or less, which reduces the torque–ampere ratio of motors. This paper proposes a new DTC method by three improvements. First, the hysteresis-loop control of flux is removed. New selection rule of voltage vectors is established to reduce the torque ripple. Second, the sectors divided in electrical space are reorganized by their actual positions according to the inductance profile. The boundaries between certain sectors are calculated and updated according to real-time working conditions. Finally, the alternative voltage vectors for increasing or decreasing torque are distinguished by whether any phase is excited. Therefore, the output torque tracks the reference accurately, which reduces the torque ripple. Moreover, the negative torque is avoided by the real-time regulation of the turn-off angle, and the torque–ampere ratio is increased accordingly. Simulation and experimental results verify the demonstrated performance of the proposed DTC method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a unified controller for switched reluctance motors is proposed for wide speed operations. The proposed controller achieves minimum output torque ripple at low and medium speeds and operates in a single-pulse mode at high speeds. Overlapping regions between the phases are controlled such that direct instantaneous torque control (DITC) and current control (CC) can be implemented simultaneously on different phases. This simplifies the torque sharing during commutation and minimizes torque ripple due to imperfect current tracking and mutual torque. A demagnetization curve concept to demagnetize the phase currents at an optimum angle is introduced to ensure high torque per ampere and single-pulse mode operation. This results in extending low ripple operation to medium speed ranges. The seamless combination of DITC, CC, and the demagnetization curves leads to torque ripple minimization, automatic excitation angle control, and smooth operation over a wide speed range. The effectiveness of the proposed unified controller is verified through simulation and experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new position sensorless method for a direct torque control system using the inductance inflection point of a switched reluctance motor (SRM). The SRM essentially requires knowledge of the rotor position in the torque control system; this is because it generates torque by exciting the stator windings according to the rotor position. This rotor position information is an important factor used to obtain phase commutation point and to calculate instantaneous torque. Various rotor position detection methods have been used, but most of the methods increase the construction cost by requiring additional hardware and use many parameters for high-order analysis modeling, causing problems such as increasing the number of calculations. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a method using the inductance inflection point to solve these problems. It is possible to estimate the position of the rotor by detecting where the inductance inflection point occurs due to the rotor and stator overlapping with each other, and the phase commutation point and instantaneous torque can be calculated. The calculated instantaneous torque is used for direct torque control and torque ripple reduction through the torque-sharing function. The proposed method is verified through simulation and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tubular linear switched reluctance actuator (TLSRA) is presented in this paper to propel linear compressors with oscillatory motion. The proposed TLSRA possesses the advantages of higher force density and shorter magnetic flux paths in comparison with conventional LSRAs and are much more suitable for applications to reciprocating oscillation due to absence of any coils and magnets on the mover in comparison with linear actuators with moveable permanent magnets. The analytical expression of gap permeance is proposed for fast machine design and optimization. The designed thrust force characteristics are verified by finite-element analysis (FEA) and the experiment. The dynamic model of the linear compressor propelled by the proposed TLSRA is presented. The simulated and experimental results demonstrate that the developed TLSRA can be applied to linear oscillatory motion and that the developed linear compressor propelled by the proposed TLSRA is effective and feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the flux characteristics and normal force of the double-sided switched reluctance linear machine (SRLM) under the asymmetric air gap. The magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) of the machine and the details of the flux paths configuration at six distinct mover positions under the asymmetric air gap are included. Then, six special mover position magnetization curves are calculated by solving the MEC with the method of Gauss–Seidel. The magnetic flux-linkage model and thrust model based on six distinct mover positions are established by analytical polynomial. Three-dimensional (3-D) finite-element method (FEM) simulation and the experimental study with the prototype hardware are carried out to validate the accuracy of the MEC model calculated for the flux linkage and normal force. The six distinct mover positions flux linkage and normal force calculated by the MEC are consistent with the 3-D FEM calculated data and experimental data. It indicates that the proposed method to calculate the flux linkage and the normal force is feasible and effective. The dynamic analysis is also conducted. The simulated phase current waveforms are also consistent with the experimental results. It indicates that the presented method can be used to simulate the phase current under the asymmetry air gap effectively. The normal force under different asymmetry rates is analyzed, which provides the theoretical basis for reducing the unbalanced force of the double-sided SRLM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]