I "rediscovered" this motor in my searches and it seems to be making a comeback because electronic controls are now ubiquitous and the design has many advantages and few downsides. As a point of reference this was touched upon here:
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75088&highlight=reluctance
Here are some links I posted elsewhere but I'll consolidate them here:
http://machinedesign.com/article/the-switch-to-switched-reluctance-1211
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jt4Fa4H43Iw (simple VR motor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ8G5wnH5sc&feature=player_embedded (variable reluctance test motor 3p stator 4p rotor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3hmkehrcUg&feature=player_embedded (SRM test)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qS2TxU9KY&feature=player_embedded (first run)
I made a drawing of a proposed design for a switched reluctance motor:
Here is a video of a simple SR motor and controller I just made:
From the description:
This is an experimental switched reluctance motor which uses only external electromagnets in the stator, and no windings or permanent magnets in the rotor. Thus it is a very simple, rugged, and low cost design. The expense and complexity may be in the controller. The principle is essentially using electromagnets to align a piece of steel and then switching the excitation to adjacent magnets to achieve motion. I think I need to work on the design of the rotor and the pole pieces so that the force aligns the rotor at an exact point of rotation, which means wider stator pole pieces or more narrow rotor tips.
I may make some changes and see if I can get significant improvement, especially for self-starting. I think I will need to use a full three-phase H-bridge so the pole pairs can be driven both positive an negative (N and S). I also found that it helps to drive two sets of poles together to get higher torque and smoother transitions.
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75088&highlight=reluctance
Here are some links I posted elsewhere but I'll consolidate them here:
http://machinedesign.com/article/the-switch-to-switched-reluctance-1211
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jt4Fa4H43Iw (simple VR motor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ8G5wnH5sc&feature=player_embedded (variable reluctance test motor 3p stator 4p rotor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3hmkehrcUg&feature=player_embedded (SRM test)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qS2TxU9KY&feature=player_embedded (first run)
I made a drawing of a proposed design for a switched reluctance motor:
Here is a video of a simple SR motor and controller I just made:
From the description:
This is an experimental switched reluctance motor which uses only external electromagnets in the stator, and no windings or permanent magnets in the rotor. Thus it is a very simple, rugged, and low cost design. The expense and complexity may be in the controller. The principle is essentially using electromagnets to align a piece of steel and then switching the excitation to adjacent magnets to achieve motion. I think I need to work on the design of the rotor and the pole pieces so that the force aligns the rotor at an exact point of rotation, which means wider stator pole pieces or more narrow rotor tips.
I may make some changes and see if I can get significant improvement, especially for self-starting. I think I will need to use a full three-phase H-bridge so the pole pairs can be driven both positive an negative (N and S). I also found that it helps to drive two sets of poles together to get higher torque and smoother transitions.