10 Magnews Winter 2007

Introduction
This work describes how segmental rotors can be used to
advantage in switched reluctance motors, with signicant
increases in torque density. The presentation discusses the
design of these machines and presents results for a series of
working prototypes employing this construction.
Fundamentals of Operation
Conventional SRMs are built with a simple toothed rotor. This
arrangement permits a very high air-gap !ux density, but the
ratio of tooth pitch to pole pitch must be maintained well below
0.5 in order to prevent excessive inductance in the unaligned
position. Each phase can only be excited for a maximum of
one half of a cycle, so consequently only between one sixth
and one quarter of the machine air-gap carries magnetic !ux
at any one time. This poor magnetic utilisation of the machine
detrimentally affects the torque capability of the machine.
To demonstrate the fundamentals of operation, gure 1 shows
a linearised version of an alternative single phase motor, but
instead of a toothed rotor the rotor is composed of a series
of separate segments. In the aligned position the rotor
segments magnetically short the stator slots, producing a high
permeance, whilst in the unaligned position the segments are
located over the tooth tips so that the unaligned permeance is
limited by the slot opening width. In this example the body
of the stator tooth has been increased to 60% of the pole pitch
without producing an excessively large unaligned permeance.
Consequently, with segmented rotor machines it is possible
to magnetically utilise a greater proportion of the air-gap,
providing it is possible to maintain the electric loading.
A segmented rotor SRM differs from a toothed rotor SRM in
that it only allows short !ux loops to occur. Any one magnetic
!ux path only ever encloses a single stator slot, and so it is
more appropriate to think in terms of the permeance variation
per slot, rather than the permeance variation per tooth which is
evaluated in toothed SRMs. Because the permeance variation
per slot varies most strongly it is sensible to restrict the design
so that a single slot only contains the windings of a single
phase. By doing so the rate of change of phase self inductance
with respect to position is maximised. [1-3]

[This paper was presented at the UKMAG one-day seminar Modelling & Design of Electromagnetic Actuators and Machines, co-sponsored
by IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology), held at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne on 18 October 2007]
(a) aligned position
(b) unaligned position
Figure 1 A simple two slot model of a single phase segmental rotor
switched reluctance machine, illustrating magnetic ux plots in the
aligned and unaligned positions.
Three Phase Design Type A
The most obvious approach to a three phase design which
meets the above criteria is to employ fully pitched concentrated
windings, resulting in a machine of the form illustrated in Figure
2. The design bears a supercial resemblance to a synchronous
reluctance motor. However, the machine is doubly salient, with
semi-open stator slots and excited with unidirectional currents.
It is therefore very much a switchedreluctance, rather than a
synchronous reluctance machine.
Figure 2 12-8 Multi tooth winding 12-8 machine shown with one
phase excited in the aligned and unaligned positions
Figure 3 Aligned and unaligned position ux/MMF curves for both
the segmental motor (shown red) and a conventional toothed SRM
of the same size (shown blue)
Because each coil now links the !ux of two teeth, it now has
double the !ux-linkage of an ordinary SRM, as shown in
Figures 2 and 3, but does have long end-windings
Segmented Rotor Switch Reluctance Drives
Barrie Mecrow, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, School of Elec, Elec & Computer Engineering,
barrie.mecrow@newcastle.ac.uk
Magnews Winter 2007 11
Segmented Rotor Switch Reluctance Drives contd...
Figure 4 The stator of the 12-8 multi tooth winding design
Figure 5 The 12-8 multi tooth winding machine, showing measured
phase voltage, current and the ux-linkage/current locus whilst de-
livering 18.1 Nm at 577 revs per minute. Switch on angle 20 electrical
degrees after unaligned position. Conduction angle 120 electrical degrees
This machine was found to be capable of over 40% more
torque than a conventional SRM of the same dimensions.
Three Phase Design Type B
Design type B arose in recognition of the disadvantage of fully
pitched windings. Short-pitched windings are smaller, simpler
to wind and are more suited to fault tolerant applications.
In order to meet the requirement that only the conductors of
a single phase lie in any one slot then only every other tooth
is wound. Figure 6 shows magnetic !ux plots for a 12-10
prototype machine with one phase conducting, illustrating
the aligned and unaligned positions. Current !owing in a
single phase excites two adjacent slots, so to maximise torque
production it is necessary for the permeance of these two slots
to vary in phase. This is accomplished by ensuring that the slot
pitch of the wound teeth is equal to one complete rotor pole
pitch, ie 36 mechanical degrees in the 12-10 machine.
Figure 6 12-10 Single tooth winding machine shown with one phase
excited in the aligned and unaligned positions
Figure 7 shows the stator of such a machine, whilst Figure 8
shows the rotor and Figure 9 static torque characteristics.
As with machine Type A, this machine has been run from a
series of asymmetric half bridges, with example results shown
in Figure 10. Torque density is similar to design A, without
the long endwindings.
Figure 4 shows a demonstrator of this type, with Figure 5
showing examples of measured voltage, current and !ux-
linkage curves of the rotating machine.
Figure 7 The stator of the 12-8 Multi tooth winding design
Figure 8 The segmental rotor of the 12-10 single tooth winding design
Figure 9 Static torque characteristics for the 12-10 machine
12 Magnews Winter 2007
Segmented Rotor Switch Reluctance Drives contd...
Figure 10 The 12-10 single tooth winding machine, showing meas-
ured phase voltage, current and ux-linkage locus whilst delivering
33 Nm at 900 revs per minute. Switch on angle 9 electrical degrees
after unaligned position. Conduction angle 167 electrical degrees
Design Type C
The design of the previous section is particularly suitable for
use in fault tolerant applications because there is no electrical
or magnetic coupling between phases.
The concept has been applied to an aeroengine starter-generator,
with production of a demonstrator for a shaft-line-embedded
high-pressure shaft electrical machine. As well as providing a
generating function it would perform the starting function for
the engine, replacoing the current air starting system.
The machine is an outer rotor construction for mechanical
reasons and is shown in Figs 11-13.
Figure 11 18-15 outer rotating segmented geometry
Figure 12 Wound stator
Figure 13 Rotor segments and support structure
(a) aligned position
(b) unaligned position
Figure 14 Magnetic ux distribution in the prototype machine
Figures 15 and 16 show the machine under construction. For
running tests the machine was connected to a brake via a
belt drive to permit operation at speeds up to 17,000 revs per
minute. The eld was separately excited via a low voltage dc
power supply and the armature via a single phase voltage fed
inverter, fed from 240V ac, as shown in Figure 17.
Conclusions
It is possible to replace the simple toothed rotor design of a
switched reluctance motor with one of segmental construction.
Although the rotor is more complex to construct, there can
be major advantages in terms of torque density. A range
of different prototypes have been designed, built and tested
successfully.
Figure 15 The stator assembly
Design Type D 2 Phase Flux Switching
The concept of segmental rotors is not constrained to three
phase machines. When used in a two phase motor with single
tooth windings the two phases are mutually coupled and
the result is a ux switching motor [4] without any need for
overlapping windings.
The machine has an even number of teeth, with adjacent teeth
wound with a dc eld winding and an ac armature winding.
Figure 14 shows a ux plot for a prototype machine in the
aligned position with both eld and armature excited. As the
rotor rotates the segments bridge the gaps between adjacent
teeth and give an ac ux linking each armature coil, inducing
a back emf.
Magnews Winter 2007 13
Segmented Rotor Switch Reluctance Drives contd...
Figure 16 The rotor of the 2 phase machine under construction
References
[1] Mecrow, BC, Finch, JW, El-Kharashi, EA and Jack, AG, The
Design of Switched Reluctance Motors with Segmental Rotors, 15th
International Conference on Electrical Machines, Brugge, Belgium,
August 25-28, 2002, paper 336
[2] Mecrow, BC, El-Kharashi, EA, Finch, JW, and Jack, AG,
Segmental Rotor Switched Reluctance Motors with Single Tooth
Windings, IEE Proceedings, Electric Power Applications, vol 150,
no 5, September 2003, pp 591-599
[3] Mecrow BC, El-Kharashi EA, Finch JW, Jack AG, Performance
Evaluation of Switched Reluctance Motors with Segmental Rotors,
IEEE Trans on Energy Conversion, Vol 19, No 4, Dec 2004, pp
679-686
[4] Pollock, C, Wallace, M, The Flux Switching Motor, a DC
Motor without Magnets or Brushes, IEEE Industrial Applications
Conference, vol.3, pp 1980-1987, Oct 1999
barrie.mecrow@newcastle.ac.uk
Figure 17 Electrical connection
This is a follow-on article to Changing Colour by Magnetic Field,
which appeared in the autumn 2007 issue of Magnews
A
liquid that changes colour when exposed to a magnetic
eld could cheaply replace the colour components in
conventional LCD monitors, claim US researchers.
The liquid contains tiny iron oxide particles coated with plastic.
It is cheap and easy to make, and could also be used in exible,
rewritable, electronic paper, the researchers say. Yadong Yin
and colleagues at the Department of Chemistry at University of
California, Riverside, US, created the liquid by coating particles
of iron oxide each about 100 nanometres in diameter with a
polymer and suspending the mixture in water. The plastic coating
means that each particle has a highly charged surface. Because the
individual particles have the same charge, they repel each other
in the solution. However, since iron oxide is also magnetic the
particles will come together when exposed to a magnetic eld.
The opposing forces of electrostatic repulsion and magnetic attraction
result in the particles arranging themselves into an ordered structure,
known as a colloidal photonic crystal. The colloidal crystal
reects light because the spacing between neighbouring particles in
the structure is equivalent to the wavelength of light. Also, tuning
the spacing slightly alters the exact wavelength, or colour, of light
that is reected. This can easily be done by varying the strength of
the magnetic eld applied to the crystal. The researchers did this
in experiments simply by moving a magnet further away from, or
closer to, the liquid. The crystal reects brilliant colours from red
to violet as the magnetic eld strength increases (see image, right).
But, when the eld is switched off, the crystal reverts back to its
original brownish colour.
This is the rst report of a photonic crystal that is fully tuneable
in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum, says
Yin. We see applications in various areas, including sensors,
optical switches and exible colour displays, he told New
Scientist. For example, the system can be used to make extra-
large displays or posters to replace expensive LCD monitors.
And, because the colour is based on reection, it is better for
outdoor applications than current LCD displays that perform
poorly in direct sunlight. A colour display would contain
millions of small pixels made from the photonic crystals,
Chamel eon l i qui d
could outshine LCDs
explains Yin, with each pixel being assigned a different
colour using a distinct magnetic eld. The crystals could also
be sandwiched between two plastic sheets to form rewritable
paper with a magnetic eld acting as the pen, he adds.
This article rst appeared on the New Scientist website
As part of its role in securing the future vitality of the magnet-
ics community, the UK Magnetics Society has introduced a
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to attend international conferences. A total of 5 x 100 bur-
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oral
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tive work between two or more members of the UK Magnet-
ics Society (academic or industrial partners) will be particu-
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successful recipients of student bursaries are requested
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