Abstract - This paper presents the design and implementation of a

versatile nonlinear model of switched reluctance motors for use in

Simulink environment (SimPowerSystems). The nonlinear model
is based on the motor magnetization curves which can be pro-
vided as experimental data or calculated using finite-element
method or calculated from normally available parameters. An
application example using the developed SRM block is presented
to validate the model and to illustrate its use.
I. INTRODUCTION
During the last decades, much effort has been spent in
developing switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives for vari-
able-speed applications such as electric vehicle propulsion or
industrial drives. In spite of its high torque ripple, this motor, a
particular type in the AC motor family, can provide several
beneficial features, in particular the robust construction and
fault-tolerant operation.
The SRM construction is particular by the double saliency
of the motor poles. The characteristics of SRM are highly non-
linear because it operates mostly in the saturated region of the
magnetization characteristic. As a result, its operation can not
be adequately represented by analytical linearized models, as
commonly used for synchronous and induction motor. It is
proved that a nonlinear model that takes into account the mag-
netization characteristic of the motor is necessary to correctly
represent SRMs. In the literature, several nonlinear SRM mod-
els based on machine structure or analytical expressions have
been studied and tested [3, 4, 5, 8].
The purpose of this paper is to present the design and imple-
mentation of a versatile nonlinear model of switched reluc-
tance motors for use in Simulink environment
(SimPowerSystems). The proposed SRM model is imple-
mented as a Simulink/SimPowerSystems block and based on
two 3-D lookup tables: (a) current as a function of flux linkage
and rotor position, (b) torque as a function of current and rotor
position. Both tables are computed from the magnetization
characteristic of the SRM (flux linkage as a function of current
and rotor position). This magnetization characteristic can be
obtained by: (a) finite-element field computation if the
machine geometry is known, (b) experimental measurements
done on the actual machine, (c) analytical functions using nor-
mally available or readily measurable parameters. An applica-
tion example using the developed SRM block and obtained
simulation results are presented to validate the operation of the
model and to illustrate its use. The accuracy obtainable with
different magnetization curves is considered and discussed.
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF SRM
A switched reluctance motor is a doubly salient pole
machine fed by an unipolar power converter. The SRM con-
struction is simple as compared to other types of electric
motors. Both stator and rotor have salient poles. The stator
windings are of concentrated type and simple form. In a stan-
dard configuration, diametrically opposite stator windings are
connected in series to form a two-pole field pattern. The rotor
has no winding nor magnets and can be made to have low iner-
tia. Figure 1 shows three common structures of SRM.
The motor characteristics depend on several factors, mainly:
machine structure (number of phases, number of stator poles
and rotor poles, stator and rotor poles arcs), magnetization
characteristic of the laminations, converter configuration, and
control strategy [1].
Due to the nonlinear magnetization of the iron and to the
variable air gap, the machine flux linkage is a nonlinear func-
tion of the stator current and the rotor angular position:
(1)
This complex function can be obtained by finite-element
field computation using the machine geometry (if known) or
by experimental measurements on the real machine or approxi-
mated by analytical nonlinear functions.
The electromagnetic torque produced by each phase of the
SRM is proportional to the variation of the machine magnetic
co-energy while the machine rotates.
Fig. 1 Three common SRM structures:
(a) Three-phase 6/4 SRM, (b) Four-phase 8/6 SRM, (c) Five-phase 10/8 SRM.
(a)
(b)
(c)
i , ( ) =
A Versatile Nonlinear Switched Reluctance Motor Model in Simulink
using Realistic and Analytical Magnetization Characteristics
Hoang Le-Huy Patrice Brunelle
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Transnergie Technologies
Universit Laval, Qubec, Canada Montral, Canada
lehuy@gel.ulaval.ca brunelle.patrice@transenergie-tech.com
1556 0-7803-9252-3/05/$20.00 2005 IEEE
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III. DESIGN OF A NONLINEAR MODEL FOR SWITCHED
RELUCTANCE MOTORS IN SIMULINK
The proposed SRM model takes the form commonly used to
represent an electromechanical system. The inputs are the sta-
tor voltages and the outputs are the mechanical variables
(torque, speed, rotor position). The model configuration has
been chosen to be compatible with three types of data provided
by the user (experimental data, calculated data, analytical
parameters).
A. Model configuration
Figure 2 shows the general configuration of the SRM model.
It consists of three cascaded sections: input electrical circuit,
torque characteristic, and mechanical section.
The data supplied by the user are used to calculate: (a) the
magnetization characteristic needed in the input electrical cir-
cuit, (b) torque characteristics required by torque production
section.
B. Modeling the input electrical circuit
The input electrical circuit consists of N
ph
nonlinear induc-
tances connected to the converter (N
ph
is the number of
phases). The mutual coupling between these inductances is
supposed to be negligible so that the stator phases can be mod-
eled as independent inductances. Figure 3 shows the details of
the input circuit for a three-phase SRM.
The inputs of SRM model are the stator phase voltages. The
magnetic flux linkage in the windings are obtained by integrat-
ing the difference between the input voltage and the voltage
drop across the stator resistance R
s
:
(2)
where
s
(t) is the flux linkage vector, V
s
is the stator voltage
vector, R
s
is the stator winding resistance, and I
s
is the stator
current vector.
The stator currents are given by the nonlinear function
I(,) that can be calculated from the magnetization character-
istic (i,).
C. Magnetization characteristic (i,)
The magnetization characteristic (i,) represents the stator
flux linkage as a function of the stator current I and the rotor
position . This function is highly nonlinear due to the fact that
the SRM operates mostly in the saturated region. It can be
obtained mainly by three ways: experimental measurement,
finite-element computation, and analytical approximation.
1) Experimental measurement: The direct method for mea-
suring magnetization curves is based on the flux equation (Eq.
2). For each value of rotor position, a voltage source is applied
to one stator winding and the voltage and the current in the
winding are recorded. The magnetization curves are obtained
after processing the voltage and current waveforms.
Figure 4 shows the magnetization curves of an 6/4 SRM
plotted by using experimental data given in [4].
Experimental measurement is a very long process requiring
a special set-up. Also, one must have the specific machine
available for testing.
2) Finite-element computation: The magnetization curves
can be calculated by using finite-element method based on the
Fig. 2 SRM model configuration.
Electrical circuit
Mechanical
section
Integrator
Magnetization
characteristic
Torque
characteristic
Stator
voltages
Currents
Speed
Position
Torque
Flux
linkages
Torque
Rotor
position
Computation
User-supplied data

s
t ( ) V
s
R
s
I
s
( ) t d
0
t

=
Fig. 3 Input electrical circuit for a three-phase SRM.
1
s
I(,)
R
s

a
I
a
V
a
+
-

1
s
I(,)
R
s

c
I
c
V
c
+
-

1
s
I(,)
R
s

b
I
b
V
b
+
-

Fig. 4 Experimental magnetization curves of an 6/4 SRM.

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
Machine SRM 6/4 (60 kW)
F
lu
x

t
o
t
a
li
s
e

(
V
.
s
)
Courant (A)
= 45
= 40
= 35
= 30
= 25
= 20
= 10
= 5
= 15
= 0
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physical dimensions and characteristics of the SRM. The
details usually required for this calculation are: laminations
dimensions and magnetic characteristics, air gap length, stator
and rotor poles arcs, size and number of turns of the stator
windings. These construction details are available only if you
are designing your own SRM. Otherwise, they are not avail-
able from the manufacturer.
Finite-element computation of the SRM magnetization
curves is also a time-consuming process.
3) Analytical expression of the magnetization curves: For
converter and control system design purpose, it would be con-
venient and desirable to calculate the magnetization curves
from main parameters normally available or easily measurable.
The details on the machine geometry will be supposed to be
those of a standard construction SRM. In this way, the
generic model can represent a category of SRM of standard
construction having common main parameters.
In the proposed generic model, the extreme magnetization
curves, corresponding to aligned and unaligned rotor positions,
are approximated by analytical functions as shown in Fig. 5.
The magnetization curve at unaligned rotor position (q axis)
is represented as a straight line with slope equal to the mini-
mum inductance L
q
:
(3)
The magnetization curve at aligned rotor position (d axis) is
a nonlinear function of the stator current i:
(4)
where L
dsat
is the d-axis saturated inductance, and A and B are
constants determined by conditions at i = 0 and i = I
m
(I
m
is the
maximum current in stator windings).
In supposing that the machine is really saturated at i = I
m
,
one have and the constants A and B can be deduced
as:
(5)
(6)
where L
d
is the d-axis non-saturated inductance and
m
is the
flux linkage at i = I
m
.
The intermediate magnetizations curves corresponding to
rotor positions between the aligned position (d-axis) and the
unaligned position (q-axis) can be deduced from the two
extreme curves
d
and
q
by using a nonlinear function f()
that approximately represents the variation of magnetic flux
linkage in function of the rotor position in a standard structure
SRM. This nonlinear function can be written for a general case
as:
(7)
where N
r
is the number of rotor poles.
The magnetization characteristic of the SRM can be thus
expressed as a function of stator current and rotor position:
(8)
D. Torque characteristic
The SRM electromagnetic torque is equal to the sum of the
individual torques developed in each phase. Due to the nonlin-
earity of the magnetization curves, the developed torque is a
nonlinear function of the stator current and the rotor position.
The electromagnetic torque developed by one phase of the
SRM can be calculated as the derivative of the machine co-
energy:
(9)
where W is calculated as
(10)
In case where the magnetization curves are calculated from
experimental data or from finite-element results, the torque
characteristic T
e
(i,) can be numerically calculated using Eq. 9.
Figure 6 shows the SRM torque characteristic calculated
from the magnetization curves shown in Fig. 4.
0 I
m

m
i

Aligned
Unaligned

d
Slope = L
d
Slope = L
q
Slope = L
dsat
Fig. 5 Aligned and unaligned magnetization curves used to build the SRM ana-
lytical model

q
L
q
i =

d
L
dsat
i A 1 e
Bi
( ) + =
e
BI
m

0
A
m
L
dsat
I
m
=
B L
d
L
dsat
( )
m
L
dsat
I
m
( ) =
f ( ) 2N
r
3

3
( )
3
3N
r
2

2
( )
2
1 + =
i , ( ) L
q
i L
dsat
i A 1 e
Bi
( ) L
q
i + [ ]f ( ) + =
T
e
i , ( )

W i , ( ) =
W i , ( ) i , ( ) i d
0
i

=
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Machine SRM 6/4 (60 kW)
C
o
u
p
l
e

(
N
.
m
)
Position du rotor (degre)
Fig. 6 Torque characteristic calculated from the magnetization
curves shown in Fig. 4.
i = 50 A
i = 100 A
i = 150 A
i = 200 A
i = 250 A
i = 300 A
i = 350 A
i = 400 A
i = 450 A
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In case where the magnetization curves are analytically cal-
culated by Eq. 8, an analytical expression for the torque T can
be obtained from Eqs. 9 and 10 as:
(11)
where
(12)
It can be noted that in this relation, the electromagnetic
torque is expressed as a product of two functions: one depends
on the current i and the other depends on the rotor position.
D. Motor and load mechanical model
The mechanical dynamics of the motor and the load are gov-
erned by the motion equation:
(13)
where is the rotor speed, J is the total inertia (motor + load),
B is the total friction coefficient, and T
L
is the load torque.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SRM MODEL IN
SIMULINK/SIMPOWERSYSTEMS
A. SRM model in Simulink
The SRM can be modeled in Simulink/SimPowerSystems as
a nonlinear electric system followed by a mechanical system
representing the mechanical dynamics of the motor and the
driven load. Figure 8 shows the Simulink diagram that models
a four-phase 8/6 SRM.
The inputs of SRM model are the stator phase voltages mea-
sured at the input connector. The magnetic flux linkage in the
windings are obtained by integrating the difference between
the input voltage and the voltage drop across the stator resis-
tance R
s
. Controlled current sources are used, in the input con-
nector, to inject in the stator windings the currents produced by
the nonlinear function i(,) which is implemented as a lookup
table ITBL. The electromagnetic torques produced by the sta-
tor phases are provided by the nonlinear function T
e
(i,) imple-
mented as a lookup table TTBL. The torques produced by all
stator phases are then summed up to provide the total torque on
the rotor shaft.
This diagram is identical for all types of SRMs. Only the
size of the input connector and the vectors (voltage, current,
rotor position) needs to be changed according to the phase
number. It can be noted that the coupling between motor
phases is supposed to be negligible so that the SRM phases are
independently modeled.
B. Model parameters
A SimPowerSystems block has been created in Simulink for
three most common types of SRM (6/4, 8/6, 10/8) using the
generic model described above and the specific model based
on realistic magnetization curves.
On the dialog box of the SRM block, the user can select the
type of SRM (6/4, 8/6 or 10/8). The icon and the input connec-
tions will change accordingly to reflect the selected machine
type.
For each machine type, the user can select between a spe-
cific model (that uses the experimental or finite-element calcu-
lated magnetization curves) and a generic model (that uses the
analytical magnetization curves). For a specific SRM model,
one has to specify stator resistance, inertia, friction coefficient,
and measured or finite-element calculated magnetization
curves which are provided under the form of a lookup table
FTBL. The parameters that users have to specify for the
generic model are: stator resistance, inertia, friction coefficient,
unaligned inductance, aligned inductance, saturated aligned
inductance, maximum current, and maximum flux linkage.
Before the simulation starts, a special function is called to
calculate the lookup tables ITBL (current versus flux and rotor
position) and TTBL (torque versus current and rotor position)
T
e
i , ( )
L
dsat
L
q
( )i
2
2
---------------------------------- Ai
A 1 e
Bi
( )
B
---------------------------- + f ( ) =
f ( ) 6N
r
3

3
( )
2
6N
r
2

2
( ) =
T
e
J
d
dt
------- B T
L
+ + =
Fig. 7 Modeling the motor and load mechanical characteristics.
1
s
T
e
+
-

T
L
1
Js + B

4
teta
3
w
2
Te
1
Iabc
8
D2
7
D1
6
C2
5
C1
4
B2
3
B1
2
A2
1
A1
TTBL
Rs
Rs
w angle
Pos_sensor
TL
Te
w
Teta
Mechanic
1
s
Iabcd
Vabcd
A1
A2
B1
B2
C1
C2
D1
D2
Input_connector
ITBL
f(u)
1
TL
1
Vabcd
8
D2
7
D1
6
C2
5
C1
4
B2
3
B1
2
A2
1
A1
v
+
-
V4
v
+
-
V3
v
+
-
V2
v
+
-
V1
emu
s-
+
CS4
s-
+
CS3
s-
+
CS2
s-
+
CS1
1
Iabcd
Fig. 8 Simulink diagram representing the SRM.
(a) General configuration. (b) Input connector details.
(a)
(b)
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required by the selected model. For a specific model, the user-
provided lookup table FTBL is interpolated (using cubic spline
interpolation) to produce ITBL, and TTBL is obtained by
numeric integration. For the generic model, analytical expres-
sions given by Eqs. 8 and 11 are used for calculations.
V. APPLICATION EXAMPLE - A CURRENT-CON-
TROLLED 60 kW 6/4 SRM DRIVE
In this section, an application example using the developed
SRM model is presented to verify its operation and also to val-
idate the results by comparing them with those obtained with a
specific model based on measured magnetization curves.
Figure 9 shows a Simulink diagram of an 6/4 SRM drive
which was used for testing the developed SRM model.
In this test setup, the characteristics of a well-documented
60 kW 6/4 SRM, described in details in [4], are used in both
generic and specific models. In our tests, operating conditions
similar to those described in [4] were used so as to facilitate the
comparison.
The SRM is fed by a three-phase asymmetrical power con-
verter. With this configuration, the phase currents can be inde-
pendently controlled. A rotor position sensor is used so that the
turn-on and turn-off angles of each phase can accurately fixed.
The currents in stator phases are controlled by three inde-
pendent hysteresis controller. Depending on the rotating speed,
the SRM drive can operate in one of two modes: current-con-
trolled mode and voltage-fed mode. The current-controlled
mode is possible only at low speeds where the available dc
voltage is sufficient to regulate the current in phase windings.
Over a certain speed, current regulation is not possible and the
SRM will naturally switch to voltage-fed mode.
The parameters used in the generic model were: L
q
= 0.67
mH, L
d
= 23.62 mH, L
dsat
= 0.15 mH, I
m
= 450 A,
m
= 0.486
Wb.
The magnetization curves used in the specific model were
from the measured data presented in [4].
A. Test in current-controlled mode
This test is done for a rotor speed of 783 rpm, a turn-on
angle of 45, a turn-off angle of 74 and a DC supply voltage
of 231 V. The reference current is 220 A and the hysteresis
band is 50 A.
The motor speed is maintained at a constant value by using a
very large inertia for the load and the average currents are kept
constant by the current regulators.
Figure 10 shows the waveforms obtained for the flux, the
phase currents and the torque using the generic and specific
models for this operation condition.
It can be noted that in this case the SRM generic model pro-
duces results very close to those produced by the specific
model which represents exactly the machine measured charac-
teristics.
Despite an apparent difference in torque waveforms, the
average values obtained are very close: 112.5 N.m for generic
model and 112.6 N.m for specific model.
B. Test in voltage-fed mode
This test is done for a rotor speed of 4704 rpm, a turn-on
angle of 31, a turn-off angle of 72.25 and a DC supply volt-
age of 231 V.
As before, the motor speed is maintained at a constant value
by using a very large inertia for the load. Since the phase cur-
rents cannot attain the reference value imposed by the current
regulators, the power switches remain closed during their
active periods and the constant DC supply voltage is continu-
Fig. 9 Simulink diagram of an 6/4 SRM drive used for testing
the SRM model.
Fig. 10 Flux, current and torque waveforms in current-controlled mode.
(a) SRM generic model. (b) SRM specific model
(a)
(b)
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ously applied to the phase windings. This results in linear vary-
ing flux waveforms.
Figure 11 shows the waveforms obtained for the flux, the
phase currents and the torque using the generic and specific
models under voltage-fed conditions.
It can be noted that the peak and rms values of phase cur-
rents tend to be higher with the generic model. These currents
are respectively 202 A (peak) and 101.2 A (rms) as compared
to 178 A (peak) and 81.5 A (rms) for the specific model.
The torque peak and average values obtained with the
generic model are respectively 119 N.m (peak) and 76.6 N.m
(average) as compared to 101 N.m (peak) and 54.4 N.m (aver-
age) obtained with the specific model.
The differences between the results are due mainly to the
difference in the flux variation profiles between the extreme
rotor positions (aligned and unaligned). This profile is a com-
plex function of the geometry of the SRM that the nonlinear
function f() given in Eq. 7 cannot exactly reproduce.
It can be noted that the results obtained with the generic
SRM model in both tests gave the exact trends of the wave-
forms and the operation of the machine is well represented by
this analytical model.
VI. CONCLUSION
A versatile nonlinear model of switched reluctance motors
has been developed and implemented as a SimPowerSystems
(Simulink) block for three most common types of SRM. In this
block, the user can select between a specific model (using
experimental or finite-element calculated magnetization
curves) and a generic model that uses analytical magnetization
curves.
The results obtained with both specific and generic models
of an 6/4 SRM in current-controlled and voltage-fed modes
have confirmed the good operation of the SRM block.
The specific model produces accurate results because it is
tailored for one specific SRM using finite-element calculated
or measured data. On the other hand, the generic model cannot
produce accurate waveforms but it can give the correct trends
of the waveforms. The main advantage of the generic model
resides in the fact that it can represent SRMs using only exter-
nal measurable parameters without knowing the internal
machine geometry. It has been shown that the waveform trends
produced by the generic model are accurate enough to be used
in the development and evaluation of control algorithms for the
SRM.
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Fig. 11 Flux, current and torque waveforms in voltage-fed mode.
(a) SRM generic model. (b) SRM specific model
(a)
(b)
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