Experimental evaluation of acoustic-noise and mode frequencies with design variations of switched reluctance machines

The stator mode frequency as well as the intensity of acoustic-noise generated by magnetic radial force, is related to the geometry, configuration and material properties of the switched reluctance machine (SRM). Two different 4-phase, 8/6 SRMs with similar specifications, torque-speed requirements and envelope dimensions have been designed and built for experiments related to noise intensity and stator mode frequencies. One of these two SRMs, labeled as low-noise SRMs is designed following the low-noise design guidelines. The other one, labeled as a conventional SRM is designed following the conventional design methodology. The mode frequencies and noise power levels for both the SRMs have been calculated using the analytical-models. Acoustic-noise data collected from a test bench are analyzed to correlate the experimental and theoretical results.