Influence of rotor slot profile on the windage loss in a Switched Reluctance Motor for an electric autorickshaw

Abstract

A Switched Reluctance Motor is designed for an electric auto rickshaw operating at 25 kmph. Different stator-rotor teeth combinations are worked out and the suitable combination for the application is chosen. As the application demands higher operating speeds (up to 9500 rpm), windage loss tends to hamper the machine's efficiency at these speeds. One parameter that affects the windage loss is the drag force. The drag force contributed by the rotor can be varied by changing the profile of the rotor slot. Hence, certain structural variations in the rotor slot are carried out and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to estimate the windage loss of each rotor slot profile. The rotor structure providing minimal windage loss is chosen for fabrication. Testing is performed on the fabricated motor and the results are compared.

Keywords

• Electric Auto Rickshaw
• CFD
• Windage loss
• Shear stress
• Dynamic Pressure