Phase-current waveform for switched reluctance motors to eliminate input-current ripple and torque ripple in low-power propulsion below magnetic saturation

In recent decades, switched reluctance motors (SRMs) have been attracting increasing attention as a promising type of traction motors for electric vehicle propulsion, owing to their robust construction, elimination of permanent magnets. However, their phase inductance profile contains significant high-order harmonics, which generates input-current and torque ripples under SRM drive with the conventional square phase-current waveform. This study solves this problem by proposing a novel phase-current waveform in replacement of this square waveform. The proposed waveform is a predetermined waveform that can be stored as a look-up table in the inverter controller and can be magnified or attenuated to adjust the output torque, similarly as the conventional square waveform. Certainly, SRMs generally exhibit magnetic non-linearity due to magnetic saturation, which complicates the analysis. Therefore, the proposed waveform is analytically derived under the assumption that the magnetisation of the motor remains below the saturation level because vehicle propulsion tends to require a torque output far smaller than the maximum rating of the motor in normal vehicle travel. The proposed phase-current waveform is experimentally tested in comparison with the conventional square phase-current waveform. Consequently, the proposed waveform revealed smaller ripples in both the input-current and torque, supporting the effectiveness of the proposed phase-current waveform.