Torque ripple optimization for synchronous reluctance motors based on a virtual permanent magnet harmonic machine model

The torque ripple is affected by both the stator and the rotor magnetic field harmonics. In synchronous reluctance motors (SynRM), there are only rotor permeance harmonics existing on the rotor side for the absence of the rotor windings. Since the asymmetric rotor flux barriers are widely applied in the SynRM rotor, it is difficult to calculate the rotor permeance accurately by the analytical method. In this article, the effects of the rotor permeance harmonics on the air-gap magnetic field are studied by a virtual permanent magnet harmonic machine (VPMHM), which is a finite-element (FE) based magnetostatic analysis model. The air-gap flux density harmonics produced by the SynRM rotor are extracted from the VPMHM model and used as the intermediate variables for the torque ripple optimization. The proposed method does not need to solve the transient process of motor motion. Hence, the time of the optimization process can be significantly shortened. Finally, a full electric cycle is simulated by dynamic FE simulation, and the torque ripple is proved to be effectively reduced.