Design of a Switched Reluctance Motor

for Mixer-Grinder Application

Shino G.Babu
M.Tech Scholar
Department of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering, Trivandrum
Email: shinogb@gmail.com
Dinesh Gopinath
Lecturer
Department of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering, Trivandrum
Email: dineshgopinath@gmail.com
AbstractThis paper presents the design procedure of a
4-phase, 8/6 Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) for driving
a mixer-grinder. The conventional motor being used for this
application so far is a universal motor and because of its inherent
drawbacks such as the requirement of a mechanical commutator
with brushes, and absence of easy controllability, the efciency
never exceeds 70%. This paper suggests a SRM to replace the
conventional universal motor for the specic application of mixer-
grinder. The step by step procedure for the design of a four phase
switched reluctance motor is explained. The model is veried
using Maxwell software.
Index TermsSwitched Reluctance Motor (SRM), Finite Ele-
ment Analysis (FEA), Inductance, Flux-linkage.
I. INTRODUCTION
The mixer-grinder is a commonly used domestic appliance
which is produced in high volumes. Universal motor is used
as the drive motor in almost all mixer-grinders. The inherent
torque vs speed characteristic of the universal motor suits the
load characteristics of mixer-grinder. Once the motor is started,
as the mixing/grinding activity is going on, the torque require-
ment comes down and the speed increases. Traditionally speed
control of universal motors in such appplications is done by
voltage control using manual switches in open loop mode.
The lack of control to limit this speed to a set value as to
maintain the quality of the mixer-grinder will not only affect
the output quality of the mixer-grinder, but also necessitate it
to operate for more time leading to more power consumption.
These motors have low efciency owing to the presence of
mechanical commutator with brushes.
Recently home appliances are becoming smart with micro-
computer control and electronic speed control which enhances
the functionality and efciency. When electronic speed control
is sought, single-phase or three phase induction motor are
usually used with associated power converters. The Switched
Reluctance Motor (SRM) [1] having advantages such as simple
and rugged construction, high efciency can be an ideal choice
for mixer-grinder applications. Owing to their simple construc-
tion they have the potential to become better cost-effective
competitor to squirrel cage induction motors in applications
with high-volume production such as the mixer/grinders. The
unipolar nature ofthe drive circuit gives it the capability for
high speed operation. In this paper the design of a four
phase switched reluctance motor for driving a mixer-grinder
is presented.
II. SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR
Fig. 1. Cross section of a 4-phase SRM
The switched reluctance motor is a rotating electric machine
where both stator and rotor have salient poles. The stator
comprises of simple concentric windings. There are neither
windings nor bar wires on the rotor. The stator windings on
the diametrically opposite poles are connected in series to
form a single phase. When the stator pole pair is energized
by the phase winding, the nearest rotor pole pair is attracted
toward the position, where the reluctance is minimum. Thus,
by energizing the consecutive stator phases in sequence, it is
possible to develop a torque in either direction of rotation.
SRM have several distinct advantages over most motors,
including, but not limited to, induction motors. Because a
switched reluctance motor has a salient rotor without rotor
windings, the material costs are reduced. Furthermore, inde-
pendent windings make the fault tolerant operation possible
and provide a robust structure. This robust structure decreases
the actual power consumption as the windings are energized
and de-energized only when required. It also has high torque-
to-inertia ratio and high starting torque without the problem
of in-rush current. With other motor applications, this in-rush
current during start up might cause the line voltage to dip
momentarily, which adversely affects the power quality and
can pose a problem in meeting government regulations.
There can be some drawbacks to using SRM technology
which need to be examined. For example, SRM operation
requires knowledge of rotor position. Therefore, SRMs usually
must include sensors, which can increase the overall cost
of the system. Another drawback of SRMs is the need for
sophisticated acoustic noise control due to the vibrations
inherent with operation and application needs to be unaffected
by torque ripple or control.
III. DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
Recently, Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) has been
researched to use in home and industrial appliance with the
following advantages [2]. Because a switched reluctance motor
has a salient rotor without rotor windings, the material costs
are reduced. Furthermore, independent windings make the
fault tolerant operation possible and provide a robust structure.
This robust structure decreases the actual power consumption
as the windings are energized and de-energized only when
required. It also has high torque-to-inertia ratio and high
starting torque without the problem of in-rush current. With
other motor applications, this in-rush current during start
up might cause the line voltage to dip momentarily, which
adversely affects the power quality and can pose a problem in
meeting government regulations.
A. Output Power
Normally mixer-grinder used in domestic appliance has
output power over the range 280-500W. Here we have chosen
the output power as 500W.
B. Speed
The speed is chosen as 1500 rpm and it is belt driven. Since
it is belt driven lower rpm can be achieved.
C. Supply voltage
A consideration to the voltage level that can be used in SRM
can be the device cost, which in this device is a dc voltage.
It is well known that the device cost increases drastically
with voltage. As the availabilty of low voltage high current
MOSFETs are at cheap price.It is found to use a low dc
voltage of 50V.
Sl.no Machine Details Specication
1) Power output 500 W
2) Speed 1500 rpm
3) Current 11.765 A
4) Voltage 50 V
5) Torque Developed 3.18 N-m
IV. DESIGN OF GEOMETRICAL DIMENSION
This section deals with the selection of major dimension of
SRM using analytical method.
A. Outer dimension
The outer diameter of the stator and the effective length
of iron has been chosen as 120mm and 80mm, because these
are the dimension of the commercial motor used for home
applications.
B. Selection of number of phases
SRM is available with various number of phases(1-phase,2-
phase,3-phase,4-phase). The increase in the number of phases
decreases the torque ripple and viceversa. The problem of
torque dips can be reduced by increasing the number of
strokes per rotation, which leads to a smaller stroke angle, .
It can be achieved by increasing the rotor pole number or
the phase number. Increase in rotor pole number reduces the
inductance ratio (the ratio of aligned to unaligned inductance).
Low inductance ratio increases the controller volt-ampere
requirement and decreases the specic output. The increase
in number of phases will complicate the controller circuit and
increase the switching losses. With the trade off between this
data, the number of phases is chosen as 4.
C. Selection of stator and rotor poles
The rotor pole number (N
r
) is selected such that
N
r
= N
s
2. (1)
where (N
s
) is the number of stator pole. The combination
N
r
=N
s
is not recommended, since all position will be aligned
and hence creates starting problem. The number of strokes
per revolution is higher for machines with N
r
>N
s
. Whereas
inductance ratio is higher for machines with N
r
<N
s
. The
stator has two or more poles per phase in order to balance the
radial forces produced by each phase [3]. The most suitable
type of four phase SRM topology is 8/6, i.e 8 stator poles and
6 rotor poles. Two stator poles of one phase are located in
opposite sides of the rotor and their windings are connected
in series.
D. Stator and rotor pole angle selection
The three important factors that governs the selection of
stator pole arc (
s
) and rotor pole arc (
r
) are,
s r (2)
s (3)
2
Nr
s r (4)
Equation(2) is to be satised to maximize the aligned induc-
tance, (3) is to be satised to achieve starting torque at all rotor
positions and (4) is to be satised to avoid overlap between
poles in unaligned condition. Based on the above factors a
feasible triangle is drawn and shown in Fig 2.
Based on the feasible triangle the value of
s
and
r
is
chosen as 18
o
and 21
o
.
Fig. 2. Feasible triangle of 8/6 SRM
E. Length of airgap
The value of airgap should be chosen as small as possible
because the whole magnetic circuit is magnetized from the
stator side. That is why every increase in length of air-
gap contributes to reduction of efciency of electromagnetic
energy conversion. A higher airgap brings about a lower
phase inductance and the motor draws a considerably higher
magnetizing current and more input power fromthe power
supply. Hence the airgap length is chosen as 0.5mm.
V. PRELIMINARY DESIGN PROCEDURE
This section includes the computation of the values like
height of stator pole, height of rotor polr, back iron thick-
ness, aligned inductance and unaligned inductance. Here sil-
icon steel has been chosen as the material and the B-H
curve ofthe material is given in Fig 2. The knee point of
Fig. 3. B-H curve
the characteristics is noted down and it is generally a good
design practice to limit the maximum ux density (Tesla) in
any part of the machine to this value. It can be observed that
the maximum ux density B
max
will be at the stator poles
and therefore while designing the machine, the stator pole can
be assumed to be operating at a ux density equal to the knee
value obtained from the B-H characteristics. Assuming that the
stator pole ux density B
s
is assumed to be equal to B
m
ax
the rest of the machine can be designed. Design experience
has shown that it is good practice to x the ux density of the
stator yoke By at approximately half the value of B
m
ax and
the rotor core ux density B
r
c at about 80% of the maximum
value. The stator pole area A
s
is given as
As = 0.5 D L s (5)
The back iron thickness is given as
C =
Ay
L
(6)
The stator pole height is given as
hs =
D
0
2
C
D
2
(7)
The rotor pole height is given as
h
r
=
D
2
+g
A
rc
L

D
sh
2
(8)
where D is the bore diameter in mm, Lis the stack length in
mm, A
y
is the area of stator yoke in mm
2
, D
o
is the outer
diameter in mm, A
rc
is the area of the rotor core in mm
2
,
D
sh
is the shaft diameter.
VI. PROCEDURE TO FIND ALIGNED AND UNALIGNED
INDUCTANCE
The procedure for nding the aligned and unaligned induc-
tance is reported in [6]. The best way to calculate the minimum
inductance is to plot the equiux tubes for a test machine in
the unaligned rotor position and calculate the lengths of the
equiux lines in vacuum and then account for the paths in
the iron portions. The equiux tubes of 8/6 SRM is shown
in Fig 4. From the B-H curve of the material, the knee point
ux tube.png
Fig. 4. Flux tube method
is chosen as the maximum ux density. From this the ux
density at each portion is calculated. After nding the ux
density of eachportion, the eld intensity of each portion is
obtained fromthe B-H curve of the material. Hence we nd the
length and area of each section. The step by step procedure is
explained in the owchart in Fig 5. The unaligned inductance
START
Compute length of flux path in each segment
Compute MMF of each segment
Write ampere circuital equation
Compute
the error in
MMF
From the B
sp
compute the inductance,reluctance.
Sum the inductance contributed by all flux tubes
to obtain the inductance of winding.

STOP
B
sp
=B
sp

B
sp
Yes
No
Assume an initial value of stator flux density
Find the stator pole flux
Calculate flux in path of various segments
Calculate the flux density in various segments
From BH curve find corresponding H for each
segments
Fig. 5. Flowchart for nding the minimum inductance
can be found by
L
unalinged
=
(Bs As)
i
2
p
(9)
The above procedure is repeated for the calculation of aligned
inductance. The aligned inductance can be found by
L
alinged
=
(Bs As)
i
2
p
(10)
where i
p
is the peak current in A, is the MMF.
VII. CALCULATION OF AVERAGE TORQUE
In the SRM, a linear relationship is not present between the
current in the machine and the torque developed. Therefore,
to calculate the average torque developed by the machine at
peak current, a more complex system has been evolved [4].
First, the peak current i
p
can be split into n equal parts.
i =
i
p
n
(11)
At the rst point of calculation n
1
, current i
1
=
1
Then MMF
is found by
= T
ph
i
1
(12)
The corresponding ux is found by

1
= B
s
A
s
(13)
The aligned inductance for the particular current is obtained
as
L
alinged1
=
T
ph

1
i
1
(14)
The ux linkage is calculated as

a1
= L
a1

1
(15)
The above procedure is repeated for each interval of i till
we reach the peak current. The unaligned inductance does not
change with varying current and so the unaligned ux linkages
can be obtained at the various currents as

u1
= L
u

1
(16)
The aligned work done W
aligned
is given by the area 0AC0
Fig. 6. Flux linkage vs current
and the unaligned work done W
unaligned
is given by the area
0AB0. The total work done W is given by
W = W
aligned
W
unaligned
= area0BC0 (17)
The aligned work is given by
W
aligned
= i(
1
+
2
+..... +
n1
) +

n
i
p
2
(18)
The unaligned work is given as
W
unaligned
=
1
2
i
p

u
(19)
The average torque is given as
L
avg
=
W N
s
N
r
4
(20)
VIII. ANALYTICAL RESULTS
The above procedures and formulae has been performed and
the following results has been obtained.
Fig. 7. Inductance prole
Sl.no Parameter Value
1) Stator Pole Arc 18 deg
2) Rotor Pole Arc 21 deg
3) Height of stator pole 17 mm
4) Height of rotor pole 19 mm
5) Alligned inductance 2.7 mH
6) Unalligned inductance 0.6 mH
7) Outer Diameter 120mm
8) Stack Length 80mm
9) Bore Diameter 66mm
10) Shaft Diameter 15mm
11) Air gap length 0.5mm
12) Turns per phase 50
13) Copper loss 74W
IX. DESIGN VERIFICATION USING FINITE ELEMENT
ANALYSIS
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to predict the torque
produced at various currents as well as to calculate the phase
inductance. FEA is using the software Maxwell. The ux
distribution during aligned and unaligned position is shown
in Fig 8 and Fig 9.
Fig. 8. Flux distribution in aligned position
Fig. 9. Flux distribution in unaligned position
The inductance prole is shown in Fig 10 and the torque is
shown in Fig 11.
Fig. 10. Inductance prole
Fig. 11. Torque Vs Rotor angle
X. RESULTS COMPARISION
The below table shows the results obtained from analytical
computation and FEA, which is closely related.
Aligned indutance Unaligned inductance
Analytical 2.77mH 0.67mH
FEA 3.15mH 0.98mH
XI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the design of switched reluctance motor for
powering mixer-grinder is described. The analytical design
results have been obtained. It is veried and compared with
FEA results, which are closely related. The work is in progress
to fabricate the machine and to design a suitable converter for
the machine.
REFERENCES
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motor drives IEEE Proceedings, vol. 127, pp. 253-265, July. 1980.
[2] S. Ekram , K. R. Rajagopal, Design and development of a high
efciency switched reluctance motor for a mixer application Annual
conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society ,pp. 193-197, Nov.
2007.
[3] T.J.E Miller, Switched reluctance motor and their control, Magna
physics,Oxford 1992.
[4] R.Krishnan, Switched Reluctance Motor Drives, CRC Press, Jan 2001.
[5] M.N.Anwar, A comprehensive design methodology for switched re-
luctance machines IEEE Trans on industry applications, vol. 41, pp.
4069-4071, Dec. 2001.
[6] N. K. Sheth, K. R. Rajagopal, Calculation of the Flux-Linkage Charac-
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Trans on magnetics, vol. 41, pp. 1684-1692, Dec. 2001.