Investigation on contribution of inductance harmonics to torque production in multiphase doubly salient synchronous reluctance machines

This paper investigates the contribution of each order inductance harmonic to the torque (both average torque and torque ripple) of multiphase doubly salient synchronous reluctance machines (DS-SRMs). Such machines are similar to switched reluctance machines but supplied with sinewave currents. The investigations in this paper are as follows: first, a general analytical torque model based on Fourier Series analysis of inductances has been built for machines with different phase numbers, slot/pole number combinations and also winding configurations. The instantaneous torque for DS-SRMs with any given phase number can then be accurately predicted. Using such model, contribution of each order inductance harmonic to torque can be investigated separately. It is found that the torque ripple frequency of the DS-SRM only depends on phase number. For example, for a m-phase machine, there will be m×kth order torque ripple if mod(mk,2)=0, where m is phase number and k is a natural number. This study also explains why certain phase numbers inherently produce lower torque ripple than others. The findings in this paper provide a future direction for potential torque ripple reduction methods either from machine design or advanced control. The simulations have been validated by experiments using a 6-phase DS-SRMs.