Test results on a super-high-speed amorphous-iron reluctance motor

Because of the high tensile strength and extremely low magnetic losses of amorphous metal, a super-high-speed reluctance motor (unexcited synchronous and unswitched type) was built using this material for both rotor and stator cores. To evaluate the impact of the amorphous metal material in machine performance, the losses of the test machine were segregated. For purposes of comparison the core losses of the silicon iron motor were estimated using equations obtained empirically. At a speed of 48000 r/min, core losses in the amorphous metal machine were reduced by a factor of five compared to the silicon iron machine. The reduction in the core comprised 33% of total losses. The amorphous metal motor showed a six-point efficiency gain over the silicon iron machines. The motor was found to have an efficiency of 85% and a power factor of 0.46 at an output of 372 W.<>