Drive strategies for switched reluctance motor - A review

A typical switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive system is made up of three basic components: power electronic converter, control logic circuit and the switched reluctance motor. The principle of operation of a SRM motor is quite simple: as current passes through one of its stator windings, torque is produced by the tendency of its rotor to align with the excited stator pole. The direction of the torque generated is a function of rotor position with respect to the phase that is energized, and is independent of direction of flow of current in that specific winding. The torque production can be made continuous by synchronizing the excitation of each phase winding with rotor position. The amount of current passing through the SRM winding is controlled by suitably making the power electronic switches on and off, which can connect each SRM phase to the DC bus. The drive strategy of a SRM motor predominantly consists of the power electronic drive topology because it largely dictates how the motor can be used. This paper presents different drive techniques for a SRM motor collected from researches of a number of technologists.