Two-Phase DC-Biased Vernier Reluctance Machines

Abstract

This article proposes a novel two-phase dc-biased current Vernier reluctance machine (DCBVRM) equipped with concentrated windings. Compared with the existing three-phase DCBVRMs, the number of power electronic switching devices has been greatly reduced without sacrificing performance. Consequently, the overall system cost is greatly reduced, and thus, it is competitive for low-cost applications such as household appliances. To highlight the advantages of the proposed topology, the theories of coil connection, current configuration, and so on are illustrated, and some electromagnetic characteristics, such as flux density, back electromotive force, and electromagnetic torque, are predicted by finite-element analysis (FEA) with two eight-stator slot machines. Finally, the comparison with three-phase counterpart shows that the proposed eight stator slots, seven rotor slots, and two-phase machine can exhibit 21% higher torque with much lower inverter cost.