ABSTRACT
A switched reluctance machine (SRM) is the simplest electrical machine. The technology of SRMs was derived from variable reluctance stepping motors. A SRM was first used probably by Robert Davidson, a Scotish inventor, as a traction motor for an electric locomotive. The first reference to the term SRM was made by S.A. Nasar in 1969. The “re-invention” of SRMs in the 1980s was possible due to progress in solid state switches. The SRM drive has become the commercial adjustable speed motor drive due to simple construction, low mass, potentially low manufacture cost, high efficiency, excellent torque-speed characteristics and operation in harsh environment. The SRM is a doubly-salient, singly-excited electrical machine. The stator and rotor have salient poles and the winding excited with current is only in the stator. The stator winding is usually a polyphase winding.
