Analytical study of flux and experiments of a flux-barrier type reluctance motor with a slit rotor

Abstract

The proposed reluctance motor has a rotor which consists of flux barrier type iron cores with slits to isolate magnetic flux. The iron cores are processed with press machines, and are easy for mass-production and assembly. The stator has the same structure as that of an induction motor. The motor has excellent controllability and very small torque ripple.
We have made up an experimental motor and have evaluated the performances. As the results, the motor has been shown to have 1.7 times continuous torque as large as that of the conventional synchronous motor with ferrite magnet, peak to peak torque ripple of 3% of a nominal torque at rated torque, and speed response of 200Hz.
In this paper, firstly, the structure of the motor is discussed. Secondly, analytical results of flux distribution and resulting torque are shown. Finally, the characteristics of the experimental motor are discussed.