A novel rotor design for ultra-high speed switched reluctance machines over 1 million rpm

Abstract

Ultra-high speed machines are gaining popularity in more and more applications. Switched reluctance machines (SRMs) are very competitive candidates for ultra-high speed applications due to its single material rotor. However, the conventional rotor geometries of SRMs are not suitable for ultra-high speed applications. This paper presents a novel rotor design for ultra-high speed SRMs over 1 million rpm. The proposed design has many advantages such as high strength, high power density, high efficiency and high reliability. 3D finite element stress analysis is conducted to validate the design. A prototype of the rotor has been built.