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Switched Reluctance Motor

Electrical Machine

The switched reluctance motor, or SRM, is a type of reluctance motor. Unlike brushed DC motors, power is delivered to windings in the stator, the stationary case, rather than to the rotor. This simplifies the mechanical design because power does not have to reach the moving rotor, eliminating the need for a commutator, but it complicates the electrical design, since a switching system must deliver power to the different windings in sequence and limit torque ripple. Sources disagree on whether the switched reluctance motor should itself be classed as a type of stepper motor.

Facts
Partially Attested
Invented Year
1970 1
The article credits W. H. Taylor with the first patent on the general reluctance motor in 1838; the switched reluctance motor as an electronically commutated drive was described only around 1970, the date recorded here since it names this specific technology rather than the older mechanical reluctance motor.
Technology Type
Electronically switched reluctance electric motor 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Switched reluctance motor
Wikipedia
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_reluctance_motor, lead section
    The switched reluctance motor (SRM) is a type of reluctance motor.
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_reluctance_motor, History section
    The principles for SR drives were described around 1970
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