UNIT 1- SYNCHRONOUS RELUCTANCE MOTOR

Introduction
A reluctance motor is a type of synchronous electric motor that induces non-permanent magnetic
poles on the ferromagnetic rotor. Torque is generated through the phenomenon of magnetic
reluctance.In recent years there has been a revival of interest in reluctance machines. Two main
machines have been the focus of this interest - the switched-reluctance machine (SRM) and the
synchronous reluctance machine (Syncrel). The SRM is a machine that does not have sine-wave
spatial distributed windings, but instead has concentrated coils and a doubly salient rotor and
stator structure. The operation of this machine is highly nonlinear in character, and normal
acmachine modeling techniques cannot be applied in a straight-forward manner to describe its
operation. The SRM drive has been considered in detail in an earlier section. The Syncrel, on the
other hand, has conventional three-phase sinusoidally distributed windings on the stator. The
word synchronous'' in the machine's name emphasizes the fact that the stator windings generate
a spatial sinusoidally distributed magnetomotive force (mmf) in the airgap between the stator and
the rotor, and under steady-state conditions the rotor rotates in synchronism with this field.
Therefore, the stator winding configuration of this machine is virtually exactly the same as that
of the induction machine or the conventional synchronous machine. The major difference
between the Syncrel and conventional synchronous and induction machines is in the rotor
structure. In both the induction machine and the synchronous machine, there is a source of lux in
the rotor itself. In the case of the induction machine, this flux is produced by currents resulting
from an induction mechanism, and for the synchronous machine there is a field winding wound
on the rotor that is fed with dc current to produce flux. The permanent magnet synchronous
machine replaces the wound field on the rotor with a permanent magnet. The Syncrel, on the
other hand, does not have any source of flux on the rotor, but instead the rotor is designed to
distort the flux density distribution produced by the sinusoidally distributed mmf. Sinusoidally
wound reluctance machines were traditionally used in the fiber-spinning industry because of
their synchronous nature. This made it simple to keep a large number of machines running at the
same speed using just the frequency of the supply to the machines. These machines were directon-line-start machines. This was facilitated by the presence of an induction machine starting cage
on the rotor. This cage was also essential to damp out oscillations in the rotor speed when

running at synchronous speed. It should be pointed out that these machines are not considered to
be Syncrels. Syncrel does not have an induction machine cage on the rotor. A Syncrel is
absolutely dependent on an intelligent inverter drive in order to start the machine and to stabilize
it when running.The lack of a requirement for a starting cage means that the rotor design can be
optimized for best torque and power performance. The revival of interest in the Syncrel in the
early 1980s was motivated by the development of low-cost microprocessors and reliable power
electronics, coupled with the perception that the Syncrel may be more effcient and simpler to
control in variable-speed applications compared to the induction machine. The potential for
improved efficiency and torque density compared to the induction machine is very dependent on
the rotor design. The Syncrel has the advantage over the switched-reluctance machine in that it
produces relatively smooth torque naturally, and it uses a conventional three-phase inverter.
Therefore, inverter tech-nology developed for the induction machine can be applied directly.