Switched reluctance motor (SRM) is gaining much interest in industrial applications such as wind energy systems and electric vehicles due to its simple and rugged construction, high‐speed operation ability, insensitivity to high temperature, and its features of fault tolerance. With continued research, different topologies have emerged presenting less torque ripple, high efficiency, high power factor, and high power density. However, there has always been a trade‐off between gaining some of the advantageous and losing some with each new technology. In this chapter, various SRM topologies, design, principle of operation, and respective phase switching schemes are extensively reviewed, and their advantages and drawbacks are discussed. On the other hand, some of SRM limitations (such as excitation penalty, control complexity, noise, and vibration) have prompted research into the incorporation of permanent magnets into the basic SRM structure, and therefore, the chapter also includes discussion on a new class of SRM with permanent magnet assist (PM‐assist) called doubly salient permanent magnet (DSPMM). The DSPM motor incorporates the merits of both the PM brushless motor and the SRM.
Part of the book: Switched Reluctance Motor