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Purpose: Rotor shape optimization is crucial in designing synchronous reluctance machines (SynRMs) because the machine performance is directly proportional to the rotor's magnetic saliency ratio. The rotor geometry in synchronous reluctance machines is complex, and many geometrical parameters must be optimized. When fluid flux-barrier geometry is desirable, using analytic equations to prepare the rotor geometry for finite element analysis could be tedious. This paper aims to provide a robust numerical procedure to draw the fluid flux-barrier geometry in transversally laminated radial flux inner and outer rotor SynRMs by directly solving the magnetic vector potential equation using the finite difference method.. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the goal is to have a robust procedure for drawing the rotor geometry for an arbitrary number of slots (Ns), poles (p) and flux-barrier layers (Nfb). Therefore, this paper targeted several combinations to investigate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The MATLAB software is used to implement the proposed algorithm. The ANSYS Maxwell software is used for counterpart finite element simulation to check the correctness of the results derived by the proposed method. Findings: Several inner and outer rotor SynRMs considering a different number of poles and a different number of flux-barrier layers per pole are studied to investigate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Results corresponding to each case are presented, and it is shown that the method is robust, flexible and fast enough, which could be used for the generation of the rotor geometry for the finite element analysis effectively. Originality/value: The value of the proposed algorithm is its simplicity and straightforwardness in its implementation for the preparation of the rotor geometry with the desired fluid flux-barrier layer curvature resolution suitable for the finite element analysis. The procedure presented in this paper is based on the ideal magnetic loading concept, and in future works, a similar idea could be used for linear and axial flux SynRMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: During the design process of synchronous reluctance motors (SynRMs), one crucial step, after its main dimensioning, is optimizing the rotor geometry for maximum average torque and minimum torque ripple. However, because of the complexity of rotor flux-barrier layers geometry, the number of rotor geometrical parameters is high and this step could be quite complex and time-consuming. To obtain a good performance, one needs a robust algorithm to optimize the rotor geometry. The purpose of this paper is to present a sequential iterative method for rotor shape optimization in SynRMs based on the per-unit rotor model to maximize the average torque and minimize the torque ripple. Design/methodology/approach: In the presented method, at first, rotor geometrical parameters are classified into several groups based on their geometrical similarities, and then optimization is done on these individual groups iteratively. The method starts with an arbitrary feasible rotor geometry and proceeds to optimize it. Because the method's performance depends on initial rotor geometry, different cases are studied to investigate the convergence and robustness of the method. The MATLAB software is used to implement the optimization algorithm, and the ANSYS Maxwell software is used for the finite element analysis. Findings: The performance of the proposed method is studied on a three-phase 0.75 kW-1,500 rpm permanent magnet assisted SynRM. The results show that the method improves the average torque while reducing the torque ripple. Even if the method starts with an inappropriate initial rotor geometry, it is robust enough and converges within an acceptable number of iterations. Originality/value: The value of this paper is in introducing a per-unit rotor model. When the authors optimize the rotor geometry for a specific motor rating, it can be scaled up or down for other ratings with little effort. In this work, the number of rotor poles is four and the number of rotor flux-barrier layers per pole is three. Other combinations could be analyzed in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]