Design Aspects, Challenges and Benefits of SiC-Based Integrated Switched Reluctance Machine Drives

The design aspects, challenges, and benefits of a SiC-based integrated switched reluctance machine (SRM) drive system are demonstrated in this work. The impact of noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), thermal, motor-end voltage oscillation and overshoot, and mechanical design aspects are explored and analyzed for both the non-integrated and integrated SRM drive system. Integration of the inverter and the motor can increase low-frequency acoustic noise in the integrated drive system. Integrated cooling systems for both motor and inverter introduce new challenges from the mechanical and thermal design point of view. However, an integrated drive system eliminates the issue of voltage overshoot and oscillation due to the long cable between the motor and the inverter for a non-integrated drive system. Both simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the analysis.