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Purpose: This paper aims to suggest a parameter independent and simple speed estimator for primary field-oriented control of a promising electro-mechanical energy conversion device in the form of brushless doubly-fed reluctance machine (BDFRM) drive. Design/methodology/approach: The speed estimation algorithm, in this context, is formulated using a modified secondary winding active power (mPs)-based model reference adaptive system (MRAS). The performance of the proposed estimator is verified through computer aided MATLAB simulation study, compared with conventional active power-based MRAS and further supported with experimental validation using a 1.6 kW BDFRM prototype run by a dSPACE-1103 controller. Findings: The formulation of mPs-MRAS is insensitive to any machine parameters and does not involve any integration/differentiation terms. Thus, any deviation therein does not hinder the performance of the mPs-MRAS-based speed estimator. The proposed speed estimator shows stable behavior for variable speed-constant load torque operation in all the four quadrants. Originality/value: The formulation of mPs-MRAS is insensitive to any machine parameter and does not involve any integration/differentiation terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to present an adaptive method based on finite element analysis to calculate iron losses in switched reluctance motors (SRMs). Calculation of iron losses by analytical formulas has limited accuracy. On the other hand, its estimation in rotating electrical machines through fully dynamic simulations with a fine time-step is time-consuming. However, in the initial design process, a quick and sufficiently accurate method, i.e. a value close to that of iron losses, is always welcome. The method presented in this paper is a semi-analytical approach. The main problem is that iron losses depend on d B/d t. Therefore, the accuracy of the calculation of iron losses depends on the accuracy of the calculation of the first derivative of the flux density waveform. When adopting a magnetostatic model to estimate the iron losses, an important question arises: by how many magnetostatic simulations can the iron losses be estimated within the desired accuracy? In the proposed algorithm, the aim is not to accurately calculate the value of iron losses in SRMs. The objective is to find a numerical error criterion to calculate iron losses in SRMs with a minimum number of magnetostatic simulations. Design/methodology/approach: A finite element solver is developed by authors in MATLAB to solve the 2 D nonlinear magnetostatic problem using the Newton–Raphson method. A parametric program is developed to create geometry and mesh. The proposed method is implemented in MATLAB using the developed solver. Counterpart simulations are done in the ANSYS Maxwell software to validate the accuracy of the results generated by the developed solver. Findings: The performance of the proposed method is studied on a 12/8 (500 W) SRM. Three scenarios are studied. The first one is the calculation of iron losses by uniform refinement, and the second one is by adaptive refinement, and the last one is by adaptive refinement started by particular initial points (switching points). According to the results, the proposed method substantially reduces the number of magnetostatic simulations without sacrificing accuracy. Originality/value: The main novelty of this paper is introducing an error criterion to find the minimum number of magnetostatic simulations that are needed to calculate iron losses with the desired accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze electromagnetic performance and develop an analytical approach to find the suitable coil combination and no-load flux linkage of the proposed hybrid excited consequent pole flux switching machine (HECPFSM) while minimizing the drive storage and computational time which is the main problem in finite element analysis (FEA) tools. Design/methodology/approach: First, a new HECPFSM based on conventional consequent pole flux switching permanent machine (FSPM) is proposed, and lumped parameter magnetic network model (LPMNM) is developed for the initial analysis like coil combination and no-load flux linkage. In LPMNM, all the parts of one-third machine are modeled which helps in reduction of drive storage, computational complexity and computational time without affecting the accuracy. Second, self and mutual inductance are calculated in the stator, and dq-axis inductance is calculated using park transformation in the rotor of the proposed machine. Furthermore, on-load performance analysis, like average torque, torque density and efficiency, is done by FEA. Findings: The developed LPMNM is validated by FEA via JMAG v. 19.1. The results obtained show good agreement with an accuracy of 96.89%. Practical implications: The proposed HECPFSM is developed for high-speed brushless AC applications like electric vehicle (EV)/hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). Originality/value: The proposed HECPFSM offers better flux regulation capability with enhanced electromagnetic performance as compared to conventional consequent pole FSPM. Moreover, the developed LPMNM reduces drive storage and computational time by modeling one-third of the machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to deal with the design optimization of a synchronous reluctance machine to be used in an X-ray tube, where the goal is to maximize the torque while keeping low the amount of material used, by means of gradient-based free-form shape optimization. Design/methodology/approach: The presented approach is based on the mathematical concept of shape derivatives and allows to obtain new motor designs without the need to introduce a geometric parametrization. This paper presents an extension of a standard gradient-based free-form shape optimization algorithm to the case of multiple objective functions by determining updates, which represent a descent of all involved criteria. Moreover, this paper illustrates a way to obtain an approximate Pareto front. Findings: The presented method allows to obtain optimal designs of arbitrary, non-parametric shape with very low computational cost. This paper validates the results by comparing them to a parametric geometry optimization in JMAG by means of a stochastic optimization algorithm. While the obtained designs are of similar shape, the computational time used by the gradient-based algorithm is in the order of minutes, compared to several hours taken by the stochastic optimization algorithm. Originality/value: This paper applies the presented gradient-based multi-objective optimization algorithm in the context of free-form shape optimization using the mathematical concept of shape derivatives. The authors obtain a set of Pareto-optimal designs, each of which is a shape that is not represented by a fixed set of parameters. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this approach to multi-objective free-form shape optimization is novel in the context of electric machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: High torque ripple is the significant challenge of the synchronous reluctance machine in household electric appliances, electric vehicles and so on. This paper aims to present an optimized design of a synchronous reluctance rotor structure to reduce the torque ripple with improving the average torque by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Design/methodology/approach: The optimization of rotor geometries has been investigated. Most of the rotor parameters such as the width of iron parts, the width of barriers along d and q axes and the endpoint angle of barriers are optimized by a new method using the PSO algorithm. After optimization, the resulted optimum design along with the initial design is simulated by two-dimensional finite element method and results are compared. At the end, a prototype is constructed and tested. Results of the experiment are compared with the simulation results where acceptable adoption is yielded. Findings: Minimizing the torque ripple without losing the average torque is an important achievement of the synchronous reluctance motor (SynRM) optimization; furthermore, the finite element analysis and experimental results indicate that the torque ripple of the SynRM with the optimized rotor is reduced significantly. Also, increasing the number of optimization parameters can effectively obtain an accurate shape of the SynRM barrier. Originality/value: Because of the high number of parameters in synchronous reluctance rotors, the majority of proposed optimizations did not use all geometric parameters of the rotor and tried to simplify the optimization by ignoring several optimization parameters or reducing the number of flux barriers. In this optimization, most of the rotor parameters have been used to achieve the precise barrier shape with the aim of reducing the torque ripple in SynRM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to design the rotor geometry of switched reluctance motor (SRM) in a completely flexible way. In the proposed method, there is no default geometry for the rotor. The initial geometry of the rotor can start from a circle or any other shape and depending on the required performance takes the final shape during the optimal design. In this way, the best performance, possible with geometric design, can be achieved. Design/methodology/approach: The rotor boundary of a 4/2 SRM is defined by a few B-splines. Some control points are located around the rotor and changing their locations causes customized changes in the rotor boundary. Locations of these points are defined as design variables. A 2-D finite element analysis using MATLAB/PDE is applied to the SRM model and sensitivity analysis is used to optimization design by means of minimizing of objective function. Findings: The proposed method has many more capabilities for matching different objective functions. For the suggested objective function, while the conventional rotor torque profile difference with the desired torque profile reaches 40%, this difference for B-spline rotor is about 17%. Experimental results from a prototype motor have a close agreement with analysis results. Originality/value: The B-splines have been used to design machines and electromagnetic devices. However, this method is used for the first time in design of the whole rotor of a SRM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse (PI) modeling and compare with artificial neural network (ANN) modeling for switched reluctance machine (SRM) performance. Design/methodology/approach: In a design of an SRM, there are a number of parameters that are chosen empirically inside a certain interval, therefore, to find an optimal geometry it is necessary to define a good model for SRM. The proposed modeling uses the Moore-Penrose PI for the resolution of linear systems and finite element simulation data. To attest to the quality of PI modeling, a model using ANN is established and the two models are compared with the values determined by simulations of finite elements. Findings: The proposed PI model showed better accuracy, generalization capacity and lower computational cost than the ANN model. Originality/value: The proposed approach can be applied to any problem as long as experimental/computational results can be obtained and will deliver the best approximation model to the available data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to present a novel position sensorless control scheme with fault-tolerance ability for switched reluctance motor at low speed. Design/methodology/approach: First, the detection pulses are injected in the freewheeling and idle intervals of each phase. Second, the aligned position of each phase can be detected by comparing the consecutive rise time of detection current. Third, the whole-region rotor position and real-time rotational speed can be updated four times for the improvement of detection accuracy. Finally, the fault-tolerant control strategy is performed to enhance the robustness and reliability of proposed sensorless scheme under faulty conditions. Findings: Based on proposed sensorless control strategy, the estimated rotor position is in good agreement with the actual rotor position and the maximum rotor position error is 1.5°. Meanwhile, the proposed sensorless scheme is still effective when the motor with multiphase loss and the maximum rotor position error is 1.9°. Moreover, the accuracy of the rotor position estimation can be ensured even if the motor is in an accelerated state or decelerated state. Originality/value: The proposed sensorless method does not require extensive memory, complicated computation and prior knowledge of the electromagnetic properties of the motor, which is easy to implement. Furthermore, it is suitable for different control strategies at low speed without negative torque generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The torque ripple and fault-tolerant capability are the two main problems for the switched reluctance motors (SRMs) in applications. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to propose a novel 16/10 segmented SRM (SSRM) to reduce the torque ripple and improve the fault-tolerant capability in this work. Design/methodology/approach: The stator of the proposed SSRM is composed of exciting and auxiliary stator poles, while the rotor consists of a series of discrete segments. The fault-tolerant and torque ripple characteristics of the proposed SSRM are studied by the finite element analysis (FEA) method. Meanwhile, the characteristics of the SSRM are compared with those of a conventional SRM with 8/6 stator/rotor poles. Finally, FEA and experimental results are provided to validate the static and dynamic characteristics of the proposed SSRM. Findings: It is found that the proposed novel 16/10 SSRM for the application in the belt-driven starter generator (BSG) possesses these functions: less mutual inductance and high fault-tolerant capability. It is also found that the proposed SSRM provides lower torque ripple and higher output torque. Finally, the experimental results validate that the proposed SSRM runs with lower torque ripple, better output torque and fault-tolerant characteristics, making it an ideal candidate for the BSG and similar systems. Originality/value: This paper presents the analysis of torque ripple and fault-tolerant capability for a 16/10 segmented switched reluctance motor in hybrid electric vehicles. Using FEA simulation and building a test bench to verify the proposed SSRM's superiority in both torque ripple and fault-tolerant capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to deal with a performance comparison of an 8/6 radial-flux switched reluctance machine (RFSRM) and an axial-flux switched reluctance machine (AFSRM), presenting equivalent active surfaces. Design/methodology/approach: An axial machine was designed based on the equivalent active surfaces of a radial one. After estimating the machine inductances with a reluctance network, finite elements numerical models have been implemented for a more precise inductance determination and to estimate the electromagnetic torque for both machines. Finally, the AFSRM was thoroughly examined by analyzing the impact of some geometric parameters on its performance. Findings: The comparison of the RFSRM and AFSRM at equivalent active surfaces showed that the obtained axial machine is more compact along with an improvement in the electromagnetic torque. Practical implications: The equivalent AFSRM is more compact, therefore more interesting for transport and on-board applications. Originality/value: The RFSRM and AFSRM performance comparison using the same active surfaces has not been done. Moreover, the AFSRM presented has a rare design with no rotor yoke and where the rotor teeth are encapsulated in a nonmagnetic structure, allowing a more compact design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a comparison between reluctance synchronous machine-enabling work at high internal temperature (HT° machine) with laminated and solid rotor. Design/methodology/approach: To obtain heat sources for the thermal model, calculations of the electromagnetic field were made using the Opera 3D program including effect of rotation and the resulting eddy current losses. To analyse the thermal phenomenon, the 3D coupled thermal-fluid (CFD) model is used. Findings: The presented results show clearly that laminated construction is much better from a point of view of efficiency and temperature. However, solid construction can be interesting for high speed machines due to their mechanical robustness. Research limitations/implications: The main problem, despite the use of parallel calculations, is the long calculation time. Practical implications: The obtained simulation and experimental results show the possibility of building a machine operating at a much higher ambient temperature than it was previously produced for example in the vicinity of the aircraft turbines. Originality/value: The paper presents the application of fully three-dimensional coupled electromagnetic and thermal analysis of new machine constructions designed for elevated temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to propose an effective method to verify poles polarities of switched reluctance motors (SRMs). Different from the ways of detection poles polarities by permanent magnet in SRMs, the difference of self-inductance between different winding connections is used to verify the pole polarity. Design/methodology/approach: First, the winding connections with the forward and reverse series are proposed. The magnetic circuit models are established to analyze the flux linkage of different winding connections. Then, according to the difference of inductance characteristics, including the self-inductance and the mutual inductance affected by the adjacent poles, it is theoretically feasible to verify the polarity of each pole. Finally, the proposed method is verified by the simulation and experiment on a six-phase SRM. Findings: First, compared to the reverse series, the forward series can produce larger self-inductance when one phase is excited at the same current excitation, which can be used to verify the poles polarities of one phase with different winding connection. Second, the mutual inductance can be used to distinguish the winding connections. Third, the difference of the maximum self-inductance of the winding, which is composed of two adjacent windings, can be used to verify the polarities of the adjacent poles. Originality/value: This paper proposes an effective method to verify poles polarities of SRMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the saturation and nonlinear performance of magnetic field in the air gap of switched reluctance motor (SRM).Design/methodology/approach The analytical method of sub-domain combined with the saturation compensation method is used to determine the nonlinear distribution of air gap magnetic field in SRM. Also, the resolutions of the two-dimensional (2D) Laplace’s equation and Poisson’s equation in polar coordinates are used to obtain the simplified expression of magnetic flux density.Findings For verifying the effectiveness of analytical model, the results are compared with those obtained from the 2D finite element method (FEM). The influence of magnetic saturation is taken into account by associating the sub-domain analysis result with the nonlinear B-H properties of stator and rotor iron. The magnetic flux density in radial and tangential direction considering the saturation effect may be calculated accurately. It can be seen that one can easily determine the linear analytical results accurately, whereas it is difficult to determine the magnetic flux density with saturation influence; especially at some local positions, there is a larger difference between analytical and FE model due to the complex boundary conditions.Practical implications This paper presents the development and optimization design of high-performance SRM.Originality/value The magnetic saturation may be taken into account for the SRM and analytical models support to simulated system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]