Principle of operation of an SRM

Submitted by:
Muhammad Saddan

Submitted to:
Dr Kyohei Kiyota

Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Tokyo Institute of Technology

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Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview: .......................................................................................................................... 3
How it works? ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Reluctance and the Air Gap: ..................................................................................................................... 3
How timing is important? ......................................................................................................................... 3
Power Electronics and Circuitry: .................................................................................................................. 3
Asymmetric bridge converter: .................................................................................................................. 3
SRM Operation Key Steps: ........................................................................................................................... 4
1. Rotor and Stator Poles: ..................................................................................................................... 4
2. Phase Energization and alignment: ................................................................................................... 4
Switching Sequences: ................................................................................................................................... 5
1. Simple Switching Sequence: ............................................................................................................. 5
Challenges:............................................................................................................................................ 5
2. Quadratic Sequence: ......................................................................................................................... 6
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

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Introduction and Overview:
Switch reluctance motor is a type of electric motor that works using reluctance torque. In regular brushed
motors the power is usually sent to the rotor while in case of SRM, power is sent to stator. Therefore, it is
also called Variable Reluctance Motor (VRM) [1] .
In switched reluctance machine there are no permanent magnets or conductors on the rotor and its winding
is much simpler than the permanent magnet and induction machines [2]. In SRM, the electricity is not sent
to the rotor which makes things simpler mechanically but the challenge is it needs a switching system that
can control the flow of electricity to different parts of motor so that it can turn properly. A switching inverter
which is like a smart controller control how motor runs by managing when and where to send the power to
run motor smoothly.

How it works?
The working principle of this motor is based on variable reluctance. Reluctance is similar to resistance
which resists the magnetic flux. As magnetic flux follow path which has least reluctance therefore the rotor
always tries to move in the position where it finds the magnetic resistance lowest [3]. The motor creates
rotating magnetic field around stator by using power electronics switching. As the magnetic field rotates
around stator, rotor also follows it and constantly tries to align itself with the path where reluctance is
lowest. Reluctance is lowest when rotor pole is perfectly aligned with the stator pole and it is highest when
rotor and stator poles are not aligned.

Reluctance and the Air Gap:

Now the air gap between rotor and stator is the important factor because it affects motor reluctance.

• If the air gap is small then the reluctance will be low which makes easier for magnetic energy to
flow.
• If the air gap is large then the reluctance will be high making harder for magnetic energy to flow.
So, the reluctance can be changed by changing the air gap between the rotor and stator so in this way motor
movement can be controlled.

How timing is important?

The timing of switching current is very important for the motor to work properly. The current should be
switched at the right time so the rotor always moves in the direction of magnetic field. Control System is
used to manage when to send the power to different parts of motor. It makes sure that power is sent to the
stator in correct sequence to make rotor spin. Mechanical devices like switches were used in older systems
for this purpose but now in modern systems PLCs or electronic circuits are used to control the motor which
are much more reliable and precise. Microcontroller is often used in SRMs to control when to activate each
phase of motor. It also includes feature like “Soft start” which starts the motor gently and avoid too much
usage of power or any mechanical stress [4]. Feedback loop monitors how well the motor is running and
adjust the control signals.

Power Electronics and Circuitry:

In SRM, power circuitry is crucial for efficient operation. Asymmetric bridge converter is one of the most
commonly used method of powering an SRM. This controls the switching of power to different phases of
motor and as compared to AC motor it has much lower switching frequency.

Asymmetric bridge converter:

• Each phase of SRM corresponds to a phase in asymmetric bridge converter.

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 • By turning on both switches on either side of phase, the phase is powered which allow motor to
run.
• The switch turns off when current reaches specific level and in the windings the energy is stored
which maintain the flow of current. It is known as back EMF.
• The energy stored is used for reuse by feeding back EMF into the system through diodes to a
capacitor which improves efficiency.
• N+1 switch and diode configuration is advanced version of this circuit which achieves same
functionality by using fewer components.

Figure 1: Asymmetric bridge converter

SRM Operation Key Steps:

1. Rotor and Stator Poles:
The stationary part (stator) has windings which are wrapped around its poles creating a magnetic
field when the electricity flows through them. The rotating part (rotor) has poles without any
windings. Each set of stator windings has two coils which are positioned on the opposite side of
stator. As the windings are energized, they attract rotor to align with them and cause the motor to
rotate. The rotor align itself where it finds the minimum reluctance or we can say where the air gap
between rotor and stator is smallest. In this way reluctance torque is created in the rotor.

2. Phase Energization and alignment:

When the stator A-phase is energized then a magnetic field is created. Now the rotor pole (aa`)
aligns with the stator pole (AA`) because this position is having the minimum reluctance. In this
way torque is created because rotor tries to reach the position where reluctance is minimum. Now
rotor after reaching alignment with A-Phase, this phase is turned off and phase (BB`) is energized
and now rotor rotates and align its poles (bb`) with B-phase [5]. This process repeats for all phases
which cause continuous rotation. In this way torque is developed due to change in reluctance from
maximum to minimum or in other words from large air gap to small air gap.

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 Figure 2: Working Principle of SRM

Switching Sequences:
1. Simple Switching Sequence:
In simple switching, rotor moves by energizing and deenergizing the stator poles one by one.
• Step1:
The stator poles (AA`) are energized and creates a magnetic field which pulls a rotor to
align with these stator poles.
• Step2:
After the alignment of rotor poles (aa`) with stator poles (AA`), the poles (AA`) are turned
off and stator poles (BB`) are energized which pulls the rotor to align with the (BB`) stator
poles.
• Step3:
Now in this step stator poles (BB`) are turned off and stator poles (CC`) are energized
which further pulls a rotor to align with C poles.
• Step4:
This sequence continues, making rotor move from A to B and then B to C and this cycle
keeps repeating.

Challenges:
There are some challenges with this type of switching. If the load is heavy or motor is needed to accelerate
or decelerate quickly this sequence becomes unstable.

Figure 3: Simple switching sequence

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2. Quadratic Sequence:
In this method of SRM, the two stator poles are energized at same time instead of one which makes
the system more stable.
• Step1:
In first step stator poles (AA`) is energized creating a magnetic field that pulls rotor towards
this position.
• Step2:
After energized of stator poles (AA`) then stator poles (BB`) are also energized, creating a
combined magnetic field that pulls rotor towards a position between A and B poles.
• Step3:
In this step stator poles (AA`) is turned off, now only stator poles (BB`) are energized. This
pulls rotor in the full alignment with B-poles.
• Repeat for next Phases:
Now this sequence continues and stator poles (CC`) is energized with stator poles (BB`),
then after that stator poles (BB`) is turned off keeping C poles energized. The rotor rotates
between every set of poles until it completes full rotation. In this way motor operation is
smoother and also reduces chances of skipping any steps under high loads or high speeds.

Figure 4: Quadratic Sequence Switching

The switched Reluctance motor is known for its reliability, high performance and efficiency. It is also more
cost effective as compared to other motors.

References

[1] https://www.elprocus.com/switched-reluctance-motor-working/.

[2] B. Bilgin, J. W. Jiang and A. Emadi, Switched Reluctance Motor Drives Fundamentals to Applications, New
York: CRC Press, 2019.

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[3] https://www.aarohies.com/construction-and-working-principle-of-switched-reluctance-motor-
srm/#:~:text=As%20we%20know%20that%20magnetic,Motor%20or%20Variable%20Reluctance%20Motor.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_reluctance_motor.

[5] https://www.electrical4u.net/induction-motor/switched-reluctance-motor-srm-construction-working-types-
advantages/#google_vignette.