Design and performance of a small HTS bulk reluctance motor

HTS bulks can be used as flux-focusing elements in reluctance motors. As parts of the primary study, a small prototype reluctance motor was designed and constructed by using HTS YBCO bulks. The performance was analyzed based on magnetic field calculation. An experimental investigation was carried out on the prototype motor. Computed parameters are compared with test measurements, showing good agreement. Compared with the conventional synchronous reluctance motors, higher efficiency and smaller size make these motors very attractive for the applications, such as cryogenic pumps and flywheel drives.