Estimation of flux linkage by analyzing flux paths in a switched reluctance motor

Inductance of phase windings is a key parameter in determining the behavior of a switched reluctance motor (SRM) [1–8]. Therefore, the accurate prediction of inductance at aligned and unaligned rotor positions makes a significant contribution to the design of an SRM and its analytical approach is not straightforward due to nonlinear saturation in flux. Although several different approaches using a finite element analysis (FEA) or a curve-fitting tool have been employed to compute phase inductance [2–5], they are not suitable for a simple design procedure because the FEA necessitates a large amount of time in both modeling and solving with complexity for every motor design, and the curve-fitting requires the data of flux linkage from either an experimental test or an FEA simulation. In this paper, phase inductance at aligned and unaligned rotor positions is estimated by means of a reluctance network, and the proposed approach is analytically verified in terms of accuracy compared to FEA simulation.