Modeling and control of a bearingless switched reluctance motor with separated torque and suspending force poles

A novel bearingless switched reluctance motor (BLSRM) with separated torque and suspending force poles is presented. The torque poles are used to generate the torque, while the suspending force poles are used to control the suspending force. Due to independent characteristics between torque and suspending force poles, the torque control can be decoupled from the suspending force control. To verify the proposed structure, a prototype of the proposed BLSRM is designed and manufactured. Meanwhile, a model suitable for suspending force control is derived. Based on the novel structure and the model, a control scheme is proposed. In the control scheme, simple PID method and hysteresis current controllers are employed. Finally, the validity of the proposed structure and its control scheme are verified by the experimental results.