Line-Start Synchronous Reluctance Motor With V-Shaped Rotor Laminations

A line-start synchronous reluctance motor (LS-SynRM) that meets the IE4 efficiency and has satisfactory starting and synchronizing capabilities while operating with acceptable power factor will find application in constant speed drives. This paper introduces a line-start synchronous reluctance motor with V-shape rotor laminations (LS-SynRM-VSRL). The motor, which has been designed from an IE2-132S4 conventional foot mounted three-phase induction motor NEMA frame, was modeled using the three-dimensional (3D) Finite Element Method (FEM), then prototyped and tested for transient, dynamic, and steady-state performance under different load conditions. The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and measured results of the LS-SynRM-VSRL are compared with those of a conventional line-start synchronous reluctance motor (CLS-SynRM). The results evidenced that both LS-SynRMs achieved successful synchronization on no-load, with the proposed LS-SynRM-VSRL reaching the steady state condition much quicker than the CLS-SynRM. Under steady-state operations, both LS-SynRMs achieved IE4 efficiency, with the proposed LS-SynRM-VSRL reaching an efficiency of 93.6% on full-load, in contrast to the 84.9% that the IE2-132S4 induction motor has achieved under the same loading condition.