A Drive Circuit of Switched Reluctance Motors using Three-phase Power Modules

抄録

Switched Reluctance(SR) motors have several advantages for industrial applications. However, their drive circuits are not necessarily suitable. The drive circuit of a 3-phase SR motor has 6 switches and 6 diodes such as general 3-phase inverter, but its connection is different. So, a general 3-phase power module such as Intelligent Power Module(IPM) can't be used. We proposed a novel drive circuit for SR motors, which can be constructed using general a 3-phase power module without external inductors or devices. This drive method has several advantages including low cost, high efficiency, and compactness. It was simulated on SPICE including the controller and the driving performances were investigated. The new drive circuit allowed phase current to flow bi-directionally. So, the reluctance torque of SR motors is not affected by current direction. Then, we developed the new drive circuit for a 6/4 SR motor using a conventional 3-phase IPM. The results of the experiments indicated same performances as conventional way and higher efficiency than conventional way.