Characteristics of a novel switched reluctance motor having permanent magnets between the stator pole-tips

This paper presents a novel switched reluctance (SR) motor which has permanent magnets between the stator pole-tips. The proposed SR motor has large torque and high efficiency in comparison with the conventional one. Neither induced voltage nor cogging torque is produced in spite of the existence of the permanent magnets. First, the effect of the permanent magnets is explained by finite element method (FEM). It is shown that the working area of the proposed SR motor is expanded by the permanent magnets. Next, the availability of the proposed motor is clarified experimentally. The maximum torque is increased by approximately 20% as compared with the conventional SR motor, and the efficiency under a full-load condition is improved remarkably. These mean that the proposed SR motor is suitable for driving an electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) because a smooth acceleration under a full-load or overload conditions is always required.