Transient analysis of three phase reluctance motors fed from a single phase supply

The inherent advantages of three phase reluctance motors have called for their use in applications requiring constant speed. This has created a growing interest in this field, and considerable effort has been spent in analyzing the steady state and dynamic behaviour of these motors. Single phase operation of three phase reluctance motors has been suggested recently as a practical possibility that extends the range of applications of such motors and adds flexibility to their modes of operation. Previous work in this direction has been very scarce and is limited so far to the study of steady-state operating conditions. The main objective of the paper is to investigate the transient process of three phase reluctance motors fed from a single phase supply. For this purpose a rigorous mathematical model has been developed. The model, which is based on the state space form of representation, is then simulated and the transient characteristics for such a mode of operation are obtained. The feasibility of the principle of operation and the validity of the mathematical model have been verified experimentally