15

ELECTROMOTION 22 (2015) 15-18

Comparative study of switched and synchronous

reluctance machines for electric propulsion
M. Ruba, F. Jurca and L. Szabo
Abstract The goal of the paper is to analyse the performances of switched and synchronous reluctance machines, designed
to be used in light electric propulsion. Both machines are designed with the same ratings and their behaviour is studied by
means of finite element analysis and complex MATLAB/Simulink simulation programs. The task is to highlight the benefits and
drawbacks of each machine in respect to efficiency, control and torque ripple. Hence, for each machine a simple basic control
strategy is used to validate the structure, and, then, a more advanced strategy is applied to improve the performances of the
system. The results of this study are aimed at contributing to find, design and optimize electric machines for vehicle propulsion
applications.
Keywords: electric propulsion, switched reluctance machine, synchronous reluctance machine, control

1. Introduction
Nowadays the tendency in the field of research
for alternative propulsion systems for vehicles is
to find solutions that are eco-friendly, and offer
safety and reliable exploitation [1]. This is the spot
where electric machines gain attention, as they
have much higher efficiency, are reliable, simple
and safer than the internal combustion engines.
The family of electric machines is wide, and in the
past years, several topologies were considered and
studied to be used in vehicle propulsion systems.
Price of components and building, narrowed the
range of considered machines, and todays trend is
to develop passive rotor structures to reach high
efficiency, reliable and low-cost units [2].
Considering the above mentioned conditions,
the reluctance machines fit perfectly as there are
characterized
by
passive
rotors,
cheap
construction and relatively simple control
strategies. Moreover, optimization of their design
can reach increased efficiency, high power
densities, wide speed ranges and reliable
operation.
In the present paper, the switched reluctance
machine (SRM) and the synchronous reluctance
machine (SynRM) are studied from the design and
simulation point of view [3].

It is known that, for both the SRM and SynRM,

the most significant drawback is the increased
torque ripple that is not allowable for an electric
vehicle.
For the SRM there are many strategies that can
be applied for torque smoothing [4]. One such
strategy, which is detailed in the present paper, is
the direct instantaneous torque control.
Concerning the SynRM, its torque can be easily
smoothed by skewing the stator with one tooth
pitch. The most important issue is to control the
machine in order to obtain best performances by
means of efficiency. To this end, one applied
strategy is the maximum torque per current control,
detailed in the following sections.
2. Design of SRM and SynRM
The design [5] of the proposed SRM starts by
imposing the rated current (I), the number of phases
(m), the machines rated power (P2N), the
mechanical air-gap (g) the air-gap flux density in
aligned position (Bgmax), the rated speed (nN) and
the rated torque (TN) given in Table 1.
The most significant parameter in the machine is
the the mean diameter (Dg), with direct influence
on the torque development [6]. It depends on the
rated power and speed, the number of stator and
2015 Mediamira Science Publisher. All rights reserved.

16 M. Ruba, F. Jurca, L. Szabo / Comparative study of switched and synchronous reluctance machines for electric propulsion
Table 1. SRM main specifications
Input voltage
UN=24 V
Imposed current
I=80 A
Output power
P2N=1.2k W
Rated torque
T=3.4Nm
Rated speed
nN=3200 rpm
Number of stator poles
QS=8
Number of rotor poles
QR=6

rotor poles, and the airgap flux density (Bgmax).

Dg
3

P2 N Qs k
,

nN
1
2
QR k L Bg max 1
AS
60
K cr

(1)
Fig. 1. User interface of SPEED software
for the SynRM design.

where k=0.9 is the leakage flux factor, KCr=1.9,

the Carter factor, and As=104 A/m, the electrical
loading. The details of the complete design
process were already presented in [7]. Having
designed the machine, a preliminary validation
follows the computation by means of analytical
process of the average torque developed by the
machine. This is computed using a simplified
equation based on the MMF and the machines
mean diameter:

Tv kunal N f I
2

Dg
2

la
,
2 gx

(2)

where kunal is a constant that considers the

contribution of the magnetic flux in unaligned
position, la is the active stack length and gx is the
airgap width.
The developed torque, computed analytically
with (2), is 3.45 Nm, quite close to the value
imposed at the early design. The value will be
validated using the finite-element field analysis.
For the SynRM, the design was carried out
using analytical support too, but a dedicated
software was appliedd, CD-Adapcos SPEED.
Here, using a graphical interface, the user can
decide of any pole shape of the machine, any
barrier number for the rotor, and the software is
able to compute at each step the machines
performances (Fig. 1).
Such a design software facilitates the
dimensioning process using the finite elementbased software. This process uses export /import
procedures of the structure sketch.
However, the machine was initially designed to
develop higher torque, as it is known that when
skewing is applied for torque ripple reduction, the

average torque also decreases.

It has to be noticed that both machines have the
same outer diameter of 150 mm in order to ensure
comparative study conditions.
3. Finite element analysis-based validation
of the two machines
Having designed the two machines, the next step
is to validate their structures using finite element
analysis (FEA)-based software. For this purpose,
Cedrat Flux2D is used.
The results of the FEA simulations for the SRM
proved that its iron saturation is acceptable (Fig.2).
The flux density in pole tips reaches the highest
value of 2.3 T, still being less than 2 T in other
parts of the machine.
In order to check the torque production, machine
phases are supplied with currents as function of
rotor position, and the average developed torque is
plotted in Fig.3.

Fig. 2. Flux density distribution in the SRM.

M. Ruba, F. Jurca, L. Szabo / Comparative study of switched and synchronous reluctance machines for electric propulsion

100

17

40

80
Ia Ib Ic [A]

20

I[A]

60
40

0
-20

20
0
0

-40

0.002

0.004

0.006

0.008

0.01

4
T[Nm]

T[Nm]

t[s]

0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009

t[s]

0.01

0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009

t[s]

0.01

3
2

0
0

0.002

0.004

0.006

0.008

0.01

t[s]

Fig. 3. Phase currents and torque of the SRM.

Fig. 5. Phase currents and torque of the SynRM.

The average torque developed by the SRM

reaches 3.4 Nm, as expected from the analytical
design. Even if the rms-value of the torque is
reached, the torque ripple is too large to be
acceptable for vehicle propulsion applications.
Hence, torque smoothing procedure are further
applied in this study.
The FEA results of the SynRM reveal the same
aspects as those presented for the SRM.

All these results prove that both machines

behave as expected, and the flux densities, the
currents, and the developed torque are within the
imposed limits.
4. Increasing the performances of the two
machines
The most significant drawback of the two
machines under study is the torque ripple, too large
for vehicle propulsion applications. Hence this
needs to be corrected to improve the performances
of both machines.
For the SRM, one procedure for torque ripple
reduction is to use dedicated control strategy, like
the direct instantaneous torque control (DITC).
Details about DITC concept, and about the SRM
operation with DITC were addressed in [7].

Fig. 4. Flux density distribution in the SynRM.

As can be seen in Fig.4, maximum flux density

is reached only in the ribs and in the sides of flux
barriers without exceeding reasonable values, so
that the machine design is considered suitable for
such applications. Concerning the torque ripple, it
can be seen in Fig.5, that there is lower as
compared to the SRM case, but still too large for
automotive applications.

Fig. 6. Simulation results for the SRM with DITC.

18 M. Ruba, F. Jurca, L. Szabo / Comparative study of switched and synchronous reluctance machines for electric propulsion

From the comparison of the two machines by

considering the associate electronic converters,
by analyzing the efficiency and the control
strategies, the SynRM proves to be more
advantageous than the SRM.

40
30

Ia Ib Ic [A]

20
10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40

0.001 0.002

0.003 0.004

0.005 0.006 0.007

t [s]

0.008 0.009

0.01

This paper was supported by the Post-Doctoral

Program POSDRU/159/1.5/S/137516, project cofunded from European Social Fund through the
Human Resources Sectorial Operational Program
2007-2013.

4
3.5
3
2.5

T [Nm]

Acknowledgment

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

0.001 0.002

0.003 0.004

0.005 0.006 0.007

t [s]

0.008 0.009

0.01

Fig. 7. Phase currents and torque of the SynRM

with skewed stator lamination.

In Fig.6, simulation results for the SRM with

DITC are presented. From top to bottom, the
phase currents, the developed torque, the phase
voltages and phase components of the torque are
plotted. As can be seen from the second plot, the
resultant torque is rather smooth with very small
ripple mainly caused by the hysteresis current
controller.
For torque ripple reduction in the case of the
SynRM, the stator lamination stack is skewed by
one pole tip (Fig.7).
Finally, the efficiency of the two machines at
rated operating condition was computed. For the
SRM, the efficiency has the value of 0.81, while
for the SynRM, it amounts to the value of 0.92,
revealing that the SynRM can be considered
strong contender for vehicle propulsion
applications.
7. Conclusions
In the present paper, a comparative
performance analysis of SRM and SynRM for
vehicle propulsion applications is carried out.
The design analysis of the two machines was
based on FEA, showing that the flux density can
be kept within reasonable limits, and the
developed torque is quite the same for both
machines.
For torque ripple reduction the DITC is applied
for the SRM. For the SynRM, instead of control,
the torque ripple is reduced by skewing the stator
lamination stack with one tooth pitch.

References
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a vehicle conversion from internal combustion engine
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4. A.M. Omekanda, Switched reluctance machines for EV
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Electrical Machines Design Control and Diagnosis
2013, pp.70-74.
5. A.C. Pop et al., Comparative study of different torque
sharing functions for losses minimization in switched
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Received March 25, 2015

Dr. Mircea Ruba

Dr. Florin Jurca
Prof. Lornd Szab
Department of Electric Machines and Drives
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca, Romania