A reluctance motor is a type of

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

that induces non-permanent magnetic poles on the

ferromagnetic Ferromagnetism is a property of certain materials (such as iron) that results in a significant, observable magnetic permeability, and in many cases, a significant magnetic coercivity, allowing the material to form a permanent magnet. Ferromagne ...

rotor. The rotor does not have any windings. It generates torque through

magnetic reluctance Magnetic reluctance, or magnetic resistance, is a concept used in the analysis of magnetic circuits. It is defined as the ratio of magnetomotive force (mmf) to magnetic flux. It represents the opposition to magnetic flux, and depends on the ...

. Reluctance motor subtypes include synchronous, variable, switched and variable stepping. Reluctance motors can deliver high

power density Power density, defined as the amount of power (the time rate of energy transfer) per unit volume, is a critical parameter used across a spectrum of scientific and engineering disciplines. This metric, typically denoted in watts per cubic meter ...

at low cost, making them attractive for many applications. Disadvantages include high

torque ripple Torque ripple is an effect seen in many electric motor designs, referring to a periodic increase or decrease in output torque as the motor shaft rotates. It is measured as the difference in maximum and minimum torque over one complete revolution, ge ...

(the difference between maximum and minimum torque during one revolution) when operated at low speed, and noise due to torque ripple. Until the early twenty-first century, their use was limited by the complexity of designing and controlling them. Advances in theory, computer design tools, and low-cost

embedded system An embedded system is a specialized computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is e ...

s for control overcame these obstacles.

Microcontroller A microcontroller (MC, uC, or μC) or microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Pro ...

s use

real-time computing Real-time computing (RTC) is the computer science term for Computer hardware, hardware and software systems subject to a "real-time constraint", for example from Event (synchronization primitive), event to Event (computing), system response. Rea ...

control algorithms to tailor drive waveforms according to rotor position and current/voltage feedback. Before the development of large-scale integrated circuits, the control electronics were prohibitively costly.

Design and operating fundamentals

The

stator The stator is the stationary part of a rotary system, found in electric generators, electric motors, sirens, mud motors, or biological rotors (such as bacterial flagella or ATP synthase). Energy flows through a stator to or from the rotat ...

consists of multiple projecting (salient)

electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire (likely copper) wound into a electromagnetic coil, coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic ...

poles, similar to a wound field brushed DC motor. The rotor consists of soft magnetic material, such as laminated

silicon steel Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

, which has multiple projections acting as salient magnetic poles through

. For switched reluctance motors, the number of rotor poles is typically less than the number of stator poles, which minimizes torque ripple and prevents the poles from all aligning simultaneously—a position that cannot generate torque. When a rotor pole is equidistant from two adjacent stator poles, the rotor pole is said to be in the "fully unaligned position". This is the position of maximum

for the rotor pole. In the "aligned position", two (or more) rotor poles are fully aligned with two (or more) stator poles, (which means the rotor poles completely face the stator poles) and is a position of minimum reluctance. When a stator pole is energized, the rotor torque is in the direction that reduces reluctance. Thus, the nearest rotor pole is pulled from the unaligned position into alignment with the stator field (a position of less reluctance). (This is the same effect used by a

solenoid upright=1.20, An illustration of a solenoid upright=1.20, Magnetic field created by a seven-loop solenoid (cross-sectional view) described using field lines A solenoid () is a type of electromagnet formed by a helix, helical coil of wire whos ...

, or when picking up

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

with a

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

.) To sustain rotation, the stator field must rotate in advance of the rotor poles, thus constantly "pulling" the rotor along. Some motor variants run on 3-phase AC power (see the synchronous reluctance variant below). Most modern designs are of the switched reluctance type, because electronic commutation gives significant control advantages for motor starting, speed control and smooth operation (low torque ripple). The

inductance Inductance is the tendency of an electrical conductor to oppose a change in the electric current flowing through it. The electric current produces a magnetic field around the conductor. The magnetic field strength depends on the magnitude of the ...

of each phase winding in the motor varies with position, because the reluctance also varies with position. This presents a

control system A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial ...

s challenge.

Types

Synchronous reluctance

Synchronous reluctance motors (SynRM) have an equal number of stator and rotor poles. The projections on the rotor are arranged to introduce internal flux "barriers", holes that direct the magnetic flux along the so-called direct axis. The number of poles must be even, typically 4 or 6. The rotor operates at synchronous speeds without current-conducting parts. Rotor losses are minimal compared to those of an

induction motor An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC motor, AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor (electric), rotor that produces torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding ...

, however it normally has less

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...

. Once started at synchronous speed, the motor can operate with sinusoidal voltage. Speed control requires a

variable-frequency drive A variable-frequency drive (VFD, or adjustable-frequency drive, adjustable-speed drive, variable-speed drive, AC drive, micro drive, inverter drive, variable voltage variable frequency drive, or drive) is a type of AC motor, AC motor drive (sys ...

. High-powered SynRMs typically require

rare-earth element The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), are a set o ...

s such as

neodymium Neodymium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth element, rare-earth metals. It is a hard (physics), hard, sli ...

and

dysprosium Dysprosium is a chemical element; it has symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare-earth element in the lanthanide series with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though, like other lanthanides, it ...

. However, a 2023 study reported the use of a dual-phase magnetic laminate to replace them. Magnetizing such a material creates highly magnetized regions, serving as the rotor poles, while leaving other regions non-magnetic (nonpermeable). In one experiment using high-temperature nitriding to increase strength, a dual-phase rotor output 23 kW at 14,000 RPM with a power density of 1.4 kW and 94% peak efficiency, while a comparable conventional rotor produced 3.7 kW. The use of nonpermeable posts and bridges allows them to be larger and stronger, reducing interfence between the flux lines of the rotor and the stator. One limitation is that magnetization is limited to 1.5 T, compared to conventional motors 2 T.

Switched reluctance or variable reluctance

Applications

* Analog electric meters * Analog electric clocks * Some

washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...

designs * Control rod drive mechanisms of nuclear reactors *

Hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

motor *

Electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

s[17-Year-Old Boy’s Electric Motor Design Could Revolutionize EVs Story by Dustin Wheelen • Aug 16, 2022, CNN.com https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/news/17-year-old-boy-s-electric-motor-design-could-revolutionize-evs/ar-AA10Ju0j] * Power tools such as drill presses, lathes, and bandsaws

References

External links

* Real-Time Simulation of Switched Reluctance Motor Drive
Technical Paper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reluctance Motor Electric motors