Generating With the Switched Reluctance Motor

Arthur Radun
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0046

-
Abstract The switched reluctance motor (SRM)is currently
being developed for aircraft engine starterlgenerator appli-
cations. In these applications the SRM operates as a genera-
tor as well as a motor. This development is taking place
because the SRM is unique in its operation as a generator
compared to other machine types in that it does not employ
permanent magnets or a field winding on its rotor. Thus the
SRM generator does not possess the inherent problem of
generating into a shorted winding like the permanent magnet
machine (you cannot turn off the excitation). Because the
SRM generator does not employ permanent magnets or a field
winding, it is important to consider the nature of its excitation
during generating in order to understand its operation and
limitations. This is especially true during load faults or when
generating AC. Also, as with all electric machines, the SRM
as a generator is the dual of the SRM as a motor. This duality,
in the case of the SRM,carries over into the control of the
machine.
windings do not physically overlap like they do in other
electric machine types [31[41.
2. DUALITY BETWEEN MOTORING
AND GENERATING
The switched reluctance generator is the dual of the ma-
chine as a motor [5]. In fact the machine phase current wave
forms during generating are simply the mirror images around
the aligned rotor position of the phase currents during mo-
toring as shown in Fig. 2.1. This statement can be proven
precisely if the machines winding resistance is zero and it is
essentially true for actual machines with reasonable copper
losses. This includes an experimental machine that was used
to demonstrate generating operation of the switched reluc-
tance machine.
The flux linked by the winding being energized is

1. INTRODUCTION dhf &f

nus = -- -- 0, (2.1)
dt de

-_----.,
reluctance generator does not employ permanent magnets (in (eDnng- eanp y’
fact there is only iron on the rotor) which will generate into
a fault becomes a major advantage. This fault could be in-
- __-- I t

I ROIO~ Position
temal or external to the machine. The switched reluctance

41 0-7803-14 5 ~ 9 $4.00
4 0 1994 IEEE
The rotor position angles, defined in Fig 2.1, are less than
zero if they occur before the aligned position and greater than
zero for angles greater than the aligned position. Here the
rotor angle is defined to increase in value as the machine
rotates for both motoring and generating. Thus the generat-
ing angles are greater in value than the motoring angles. With
these considerations eqn. 2.1 can be integrated over a motor-
ing interval where the angles are less than zero to obtain

vbus,
we,) - we,) = -(- el - (- e,)) (2.2)
0,

For the generating case where the angles are greater than
zero, eqn. 2.1 can be integrated to obtain

Now assume that hf(-8,)is equal to hf(8,) and eliminate these

variables from eqn. 2.2 and 2.3 by adding the two equations
together

(vbus, + vbus,)
w e , ) - we,) = (e, - e,) (2.4)
om

For the flux linkage at -8, to equal the flux linkage at +e,,
vbus, must be equal to the negative of vbus,. Because the
SRMs flux linkage curves are symmetrical around the aligned
position, the phase currents will also beequal at -8, and +e,,

This mirroring of the machines phase current wave forms

about the aligned position is summarized in Table 2.1.
Fig. 2.2 Measured phase current for both motoring and generating
A comparison between measured motoring and generating demonstratipg these currents are mirror images.
phase currents, obtained from an experimental switched re-
luctance machine, is shown in Fig. 2.2. In the figure the
measured motoring and generating phase currents are shown
voltage of 270 Vdc. The motoring and generating conditions
at a machine speed of approximately 17,000 rpm and a bus for the data shown in Fig. 2.2 were not exactly the same since
the data for the two conditions were taken at widely different
times and the data were not specifically taken for comparison,
Table I. but the data do make the point.
Summary of the Duality Between Motoring and
Generating for the SRM.
3. SWITCHED RELUCTANCE
# Motoring Generating GENERATOR EXCITATION
~~

1 Both switches on -
Current decreases
2 One switch on, one
switch off - Current
decreases
3 Both switches off.
Current decreases
4 Current starts before
pole overlap before
alignment
5 Current ends after
alignment
Both switches off - The basic switched reluctance generating system is shown
Current decreases in Fig. 3.1 [2][5].This system can be studied in the constant
power range of generator operation where the inverter oper-
One switch on, one ates in the square wave mode. In the square wave mode of
switch off - Current
increases operation each IGBT switch turns on and off only once per
cycle. This mode of operation is limited to higher machine
Both switches on - speeds where the back EMF of the machine is comparable
Current increases to or higher than the dc output voltage. The switched reluc-
tance generator can generate at lower speeds than this, but
Current ends after it will be limited to a constant torque capability rather than
pole overlap after the constant power capability required of a generator. At
alignment constant torque the power generated by the SRM will de-
crease linearly as the speed decreases.
Current begins before
alignment In the square wave mode of operation, both switches
(IGBTs in Fig. 3.1)in a phase turn on and off at the same

42

.ood
Fig. 3.1. Classical switched reluctance generator circuit.
time [ 5 ] . The current wave form produced in the machine
phase winding is shown in Fig. 3.2. The machine draws
energy from the bus while the switches are on during the
interval labeled t, and returns energy to the bus through
the diodes when the switches are off during the interval
labeled ten. During generating, the energy that is returned
to the bus through the diodes while the switches are off far
exceeds the energy drawn from the bus while the switches
are on. The energy drawn from the bus through the switches
while they are on is the machine excitation energy. Note that
the machine excitation time is equal to its generating time
and that the machine phase current can last for no more than
one electrical cycle.
As can be seen from Fig. 3.1 the generator obtains its
excitation from the same bus that it generates into. Consider
the full square mode of operation during generating, de-
scribed above, when the turn on angle and turn off angles
of the switches in each phase of the inverter are fixed. At a
given bus voltage, a certain amount of power and thus av-
erage generated current will be produced. Consider next a
small perturbation where the bus voltage increases slightly.
What will happen? As the bus voltage goes up, the amount
of current that builds up in the machine while the switches
are closed will increase, or equivalently, the machines exci-
tation will increase. Thus, the amount of current that is
generated when the switches are turned off will also increase.
This increase in generated current will tend to increase the
bus voltage still further. Thus, there is the potential for
instability [6].
Fig. 3.2 Phase current during generating with the excitation and
generatingperiods identified.
43
To address this problem analytically assume that the av-
erage current generated for a given set of turn on and turn
off angles is proportional to the bus capacitor voltage.
i, = k(e,,, e,,) V, = V A (3.1)
Then the bus capacitor voltage must satisfy
d vc
- + (l/R, c - l& C) v, = 0 (3.2)
dt
Here the proportionality constant k(0,, eo,), or equivalently
%, depends on the inverter turn on and turn off angles, the
machine speed, and potentially the bus capacitor voltage. It
is clear from eqn 3.2 that the system will be unstable with
fured turn on and turn off angles if the proportionality con-
stant % is less than the load resistance R., (a lighter load),
and in this case, the bus voltage will rise exponentially. If
% is greater than the load resistance (a heavier load) the bus
voltage will decay to zero. This last condition has significant
implications for load faults. During a load fault the feedback
loop controlling the generators output voltage will have
saturated to the maximum possible difference in turn on and
turn off angles and thus these angles will have become fured
as assumed above. During faults the load is always too high,
the load resistance too small, and thus the generator output
bus will collapse unless it is supported by a battery or other
source, as in Fig. 3.1. Also, the above result indicates that
there is a maximum permissible load for any particular
machine, independent of thermal considerations, since for
loads greater than the maximum, the bus collapses unless the
additional current required by the load is drawn from a
battery or other source.
Equation 3.1 also shows the nonlinearity that exists in
the feedback loop when the switched reluctance generator is
controlled using the turn on and turn off angles of the in-
verter. With feedback, k(O,,, e,,) will depend on the bus
capacitor voltage through the commanded angles. Equation
3.1 can be rewritten as
(3.3)
where
V, = nominal bus capacitor voltage
F(e,,,eoff) = V, K(9,,,eOff)
e,, = inverter switch turn on angle
eo, = inverter switch turn off angle
Equation 3.3 can be inverted to obtain
(3.4)
To generate a constant average current as a function of the
bus capacitor voltage, eqn. 3.4 states that the function F(e,,,
eo,) must vary inversely with the bus capacitor voltage. Since
the inverse of the function F(8,,, e,,) gives the turn on and
turn off angles, eqn. 3.4 states that the angle algorithm used
at a bus capacitor voltage of V, should be multiplied by VJ
V, at a different bus capacitor voltage to maintain a constant
average generated current if angle control is employed.
 To demonstrate the validity of the above analysis, data
were taken on an experimental generator system with fmed
turn on and turn off angles [6]. First the average generated
current was measured as a function of bus voltage for fmed
turn on and turn off angles. The question arises as how to
measure these data given the bus voltage will either go to
infinity or zero with fixed switch gating angles. The data were
obtained by putting a load on the generator system that was
so heavy for the gating angles chosen that the output of the
generator would go to zero by eqn. 3.2, and then diode
“ORing” an external supply as indicated in Fig. 3.1 to main-
tain the bus at the desired value. Under these experimental
conditions the load current was measured and the current
from the dc supply was measured. Then these two currents
were subtracted to obtain the current from the switched
reluctance generator. Typical measured results are shown in
Fig 3.3 for a pulse width of 30.5 degrees, a load resistance
of 2.42 ohms, and a 270 V bus voltage. Note that the current
I, in this figure is equal to the average current out of the
swtched reluctance generator. The value of obtained from
these data is 1.97 ohm, which says the generator output
should increase exponentially for load resistors with values
greater than this value for a fmed on interval of 30.5 degrees.
Experimentally, the generator system always over voltaged
with such load resistors.
4. SEPARATE EXCITATION FOR THE
SWITCHED RELUCTANCE GENERATOR
The switched reluctance generator as presently being
proposed suffers from the disadvantages that it is self-excited
and that there exists a maximum load that it can support [61.
If this maximum load is exceeded, the voltage at the output
of the switched reluctance generator will go to zero. Once the
voltage at the output of the switched reluctance generator is
zero the generator can not recover generating operation. A
short circuit on the output of the switched reluctance gen-
erator will always exceed the generators maximum load
capability and bring the voltage at the output of the switched
reluctance generator to zero. Then, even if a fuse is blown
disconnecting the short, the switched reluctance generator
will not recover generating operation.
This problem can be circumvented by providing a separate
bus to excite the generator, as shown in Fig. 4.1. In this case
the average current generated by the switched reluctance
generator is decoupled from the generated bus voltage. This
excitation bus can be fed from a separate source, as shown
in Fig. 4.1. If the switched reluctance generator is producing
multiple dc busses, these busses can be diode “ORed” to-
gether to provide power to the excitation bus. Calculations
have been done to determine the amount of excitation power
that must be supplied to the SRM generator to excite it.
Typically, the excitation source is supplying about 30 percent
of the power going to the load at the rated load. The reason
the excitation power is this large is that during each electrical
cycle energy is delivered to the SRM machine from the ex-
citation source through the switches in Fig. 4.1, and then
when the switches turn off, all of this excitation energy is
delivered to the load and thus lost from the excitation circuit.
Given that the rating of the excitation source required in
Fig. 4.1 is such a large fraction of the generators rating, it
is desirable to recover the excitation energy delivered to the
load each electrical cycle so it does not have to come from the
excitation source. In fact, it would be desirable for the gen-
erator itself to make up the losses in the excitation circuit
so that a separate excitation source is not required at all. A
circuit for accomplishing these objectives is shown in Fig 4.2.
In the figure, there are two busses, an excitation bus and a
load bus, like the generator system in Fig. 4.1. Diodes are
connected to the excitation bus in the conventional manner.
The generator system is connected to the load bus through
controllable power switches. The basic requirements of these
switches are satisfied by thyristors. If the switches Q7-Q9 are
off, the load bus is disconnected from the generator system
and the generating action is into the excitation bus. The only
load on this bus is the machine excitation itself. With the
proper gating angles of Ql-QS the machine will generate
much more power than the machine excitation power, so if

ad l g e n lgen versus Vbus

Rz2.42
I
pwz30.5 25,000rpm
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Inverter
Excitation Bus

Bus
I

4
80f -~

/ f

c 4 Starting Source
and Excitation
50 100 15Ovbus2O0 250 300
Fig. 3.3 Measured average current generated by an SRM as a Fig. 4.1 SRM generating system with separate excitation and
function of DC bus voltage. power busses.

44

PhZ PhJ
0.
Fig. 4.2 SRM generating system that generates its own separate
excitation.
nothing where done the excitation bus voltage would be
pumped up. Thus, when the excitation bus has been pumped
up to its desired value the appropriate switch, Q7-Q9 is gated
on sending the rest of the generated power to the load bus.
This will occur as long as the load bus voltage is less than
the excitation bus voltage. In fact the operation of the circuit
is such that the excitation bus voltage will always be greater
than or equal to the load bus voltage. When Q7-Q9 are on,
the diodes D1, D3, and D5 keep the excitation bus from
discharging into the lower voltage power bus. Note that the
combined current rating of a pair, D1 and Q7 as an example,
is the same as that of the diode D2. Note too that the switches
Q7-Q9 must support reverse voltage, as well as forward
voltage like a thyristor.
The current in switches Q7-Q9 can be made to go to zero,
turning off the thyristors, by turning on the appropriate
switch Ql-Q6. In the square wave mode the phase current
naturally goes to zero through Q7-Q9 at the end of the elec-
trical cycle turning off the thyristors. The initial energy to
initiate generating action can be provided through D7. This
source can be very low power since with all the switches Q7-
Q9 off there is no load on the excitation bus. The aircraft 28
V source can be used for this purpose. Note also that now the
excitation bus voltage and the power bus voltage are no longer
constrained to be equal t o each other. In fact the excitation
bus voltage can be changed on the fly. An example would be
to change the excitation voltage as a function of machine
speed t o extend the generator's constant power range. In any
event the new SRM generator system shown in Fig. 4.2 opens
a host of new control opportunities.
5. GENERATING AC WITH THE SRM
GENERATOR
The switched reluctance generator, as normally presented,
generates DC power. If AC power is required the switched
reluctance generator system must be followed by an inverter.
Thus, in the conventional AC case, the generated power
passes through two stages of power conversion, the switched
reluctance generators power electronics and the inverters
power electronics. Though this approach works, it has limited
the consideration of the SRM generator t o only DC systems.
If a single step energy conversion SRh4 generator system
could be identified it would allow the fault tolerant and
reliability characteristics of the SRM generator to be brought
45
to high reliability AC generating systems. Such an applica-
tion is the AC startedgenerator.
Figure 5.1 illustrates one proposed SRM generator system
that accomplishes the goal of generating AC with a single
power electronic energy conversion step. Figure 5.1 shows one
phase of the generator system. A possible AC generator
system could have one phase of the AC output produced by
one phase of the switched reluctance generator system.
Another implementation, shown in Fig. 5.2, has a nine phase
switched reluctance generator generating three phase AC.
Three SRM phases produce one output AC phase. This imple-
mentation of the AC generator has the advantage of gener-
ating less and higher frequency ripple for the output filter
(consisting of C in Figs 5.1 and 5.2) to remove compared to
having one phase rf the switched reluctance generator gen-
erate one phase of the AC power. Note that it is assumed here
the link frequency of one three phase section of the switched
reluctance generator system is much higher than the funda-
mental frequency of the AC.
In Fig. 5.1 there are two busses, a DC excitation bus and
an AC load bus. Diodes are connected t o the DC excitation
bus in the conventional Tanner. The generator system is
connected to the load bus through controllable power
switches. The basic requirements of these switches can be
satisfied by thyristors. If the switches Q3-Q6 are off, the AC
load bus is disconnected from the generator system and the
generating action is into the DC excitation bus. The only load
on this bus is the machine excitation itself exactly as in the
DC case. Now Q3-Q6 are used to direct the generated current
to the AC bus with a current direction to increase the AC load
bus voltage if Q3 and Q4 are gated on or with a current
direction to decrease the AC load bus voltage if Q5 and Q6
are gated on. As with the DC case the load bus voltage must
be less than the excitation bus voltage at the given instant
of time. In fact the operation of the circuit is such that the
DC excitation bus voltage will always be greater than or equal
to the AC load bus voltage at any given instant of time. During
faults Q3 through Q6 can be kept off while the excitation bus
is being charged insuring it does not discharge into the power
bus. "he combined current rating of a pair, D1, D2, and Q3,
Q4 as an example, is no more than that of the diodes D1 and
D2 in a conventional switched reluctance generator. As in the
DC case the switches Q3-Q6 must support reverse voltage
as well as forward voltage. Also, in the normal generating
.".
LODd
.U.
Fig. 5.1 Single phase AC SRM generating system with one stage
of power electronics.
 Fig. 5.2 Three phase AC SRM generating system with one stage of power electronics
operating modes the current in switches Q3-Q6 can be made
to go to zero, turning off the thyristors, by turning on Q1 or
Q2. In the square wave mode the phase current naturally goes
to zero through Q3-Q6 at the end of each electrical cycle
turning off the thyristors. The initial energy to initiate gen-
erating action can be provided through D3 in Fig. 5.1. This
source can be very low power since with the switches Q3-Q6
off, there is no load on the excitation bus just as in the DC
case.
6. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has shown the duality that exists between
motoring and generating with the switched reluctance ma-
chine and how this duality carries over into the control of the
machine. In particular the control of the machine and the
phase current wave forms during generating have been ob-
tained from the corresponding control and phase current
wave forms during motoring. Measured phase current wave
forms taken on an experimental SRM generator system were
presented to verify the theoretical results.
The results of an investigation into the nature of the ex-
citation of the switched reluctance machine during generat-
ing has been presented. It has been shown that with fured
inverter turn on and turn off angles a critical load resistance
value exists. If the load is less (resistance greater) than the
critical value the output voltage of the machine will increase
exponentially. If the load is greater (resistance less) than the
critical value the output voltage of the machine will decrease
to zero exponentially. Since load faults (short circuits) always
exceed the critical load value and cause the control to saturate
at the maximum possible difference in turn on and turn off
angles, this means the output of the SRM generator will
always go to zero during a load fault and thus the generator
will loose its excitation. Experimental data have been pre-
sented to demonstrate these results.
Because it is the self-excitation nature of the SRM genera-
tor which makes it unable t o clear faults, an alternative SRM
generator system has been presented that separates the ex-
citation of the SRM generator from its load. This configura-
tion will allow the SRM generator to clear faults. Due to the
46
fact that the required excitation power of the SRM generator
is a large fraction of the generators rated power, an alterna-
tive SRM generator system, that still separates the excitation
of the machine from its load, but allows the machine to
generate its own excitation, has also been presented. This new
SRM generating system allows the SRM generator to clear
load faults while not requiring a separate excitation source.
Only a very low power excitation source is needed to initiate
generating action. After that, including during load faults, the
machine generates its o w n excitation. Finally the excitation
concepts for the switched reluctance generator have been
generalized to generating AC using only one stage of power
electronic energy conversion. This is exactly the same number
of stages of power electronic energy conversion required to
generate DC with the switched reluctance machine.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The results reported here were obtained while conducting
work supported by the US. Army Aviation Systems Com-
mand Aviation Applied Technology directorate under con-
tract number DAAJ02-88C-0007 and while conducting work
supported by the Aero Propulsion and Power Laboratory
Wright Research and Development Center under contract
number F33615-90-C-2052. This support is gratefully ac-
knowledged by the author. The results reported here were
obtained by the author while employed by the General Elec-
tric Company.
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[3] Stephens, C. M., “Fault Detection and Management Sys-
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- 1989,. pp.
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1990
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[5] MacMinn, S . R. and Sember, J. W., “Control of a
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[61 Radun, A.V., Rulison, J.A. and Sanza, P, “Switched Re-
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