Synchronous Reluctance Motor for Household Applications

Abstract

This thesis has been done in the Electromechanics group of Department of Electrical Engineering, Aalto University as part of the motor design and electromechanics research. The project is centered on the design of synchronous reluctance motors and study on how this motor can be used for household applications. The design and simulation were carried out by using extensive finite element analysis with FCSMEK developed in the Helsinki University of Technology. The purpose was to create a motor with cheaper cost and having good performance parameters. The main concentration in the work was on the design part, especially the rotor design, as minute design elements have considerable effect on the performance of the motor. The optimization process of the rotor design has given results on the effect of some geometrical parameters in the motor design technology. A 300 W motor is designed and a thermal model was prepared using Lumped Thermal Networking method. The motor has good efficiency and low losses with good torque characteristics. A study on the comparison of the synchronous reluctance motor with induction motor has been done in order to justify the performance of the motor and the feasibility of using this type of motor for household applications.