Design optimization and analysis of a synchronous reluctance machine for fault-tolerant applications

This paper deals with the design and optimization of a synchronous reluctance machine with dual three-phase winding for fault-tolerant applications. The target is to investigate several design solutions, in terms of winding arrangements and machine geometry, to achieve a good drive system reliability both in healthy and faulty conditions. The fault reliability is evaluated in terms of torque quality, unbalanced force and magnetic coupling between the healthy and the faulty three-phase winding. In the first part of the work, two different optimization strategies of the rotor geometry are proposed and an optimal solution is selected. In the second part, the performance of the selected individual are evaluated in several healthy and faulty operating conditions to investigate the reliability of the proposed design procedure.