| A two-phase switched reluctance machine (SRM) has been introduced for some applications that need only one direction of rotation or are not concerned with torque ripple. This approach has some advantages over the conventional multiple phase SRM. The two-phase SRM needs fewer switches to support the reduced number of phases, so the inverter will be smaller and less expensive.; This thesis presents a new approach to the magnetic design of the rotor pole shape for two-phase SRMs. Flux tube analysis has been used to calculate the appropriate size and shape of the rotor poles, so the new design is guaranteed to self-start in a known direction with smoother torque production. First the magnetically linear machine design has been established and verified by finite element analysis (FEA). Then the nonlinear properties of the core have been added to the linear model. A curve fitting method is used to model the magnetic characteristics of the machine.; This thesis also presents a utility interface and converter for this machine. The utility interface rectifies the voltage from AC to DC and controls the line current to be approximately sinusoidal and in phase with the line voltage. The converter is using only one switch per phase for current regulation of the machine.; Finally this thesis presents experimental results. The whole system has been built and tested to verify the design. The controller is based on a digital signal processor (DSP). Experimental operation shows results that are close to the simulation. This is a new solution to conventional two-phase machines and it represents a low-cost alternative to a three-phase system. |
