An accurate iron loss evaluation method based on finite element analysis for switched reluctance motors

Abstract

This paper presents an accurate and fast iron loss calculation method with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for Switched Reluctance (SR) motors. The losses of the SR motors mainly come from the hysteresis loss due to draw the minor hysteresis loops in B-H curve and high frequency eddy current loss. However these losses are difficult to estimate by using the conventional Steinmetz based calculation methods. In this paper a new approach which overcomes the difficulty of the loss calculation by using a Play-Hysteron model for the hysteresis loss calculation and a one-dimensional FEA for the eddy current loss calculation is presented. The calculated results are compared with the measurements of an SR motor as well as with the conventional method. The comparisons show that the proposed method provides accurate iron loss evaluations for a wide speed range of operation by capturing the minor hysteresis loops and eddy current distribution in the electrical steel sheet of the SR motors.