Design Method for Improving Motor Efficiency of Switched Reluctance Motor

The motor efficiencies of switched reluctance motors (SRMs) are inferior to those of permanent magnet synchronous motors. This paper describes a design procedure for an SRM to obtain a higher motor efficiency. The first step in the design procedure makes clear the principle for improving the motor efficiency. The cross‐sectional and axial shapes of the rotor and stator cores are designed by magnetic field analysis with the two‐dimensional (2D) and 3D finite element method. A high‐efficiency SRM with 12 stator poles and eight rotor poles is designed. The designed SRM was produced experimentally, and was tested to verify its performance. The motor efficiency was improved in comparison to the standard SRM with six stator poles and four rotor poles.