Performance Comparison of Conventional Synchronous Reluctance Machines and PM-Assisted Types with Combined Star–Delta Winding

This paper compares four prototype Synchronous Reluctance Motors (SynRMs) having an identical geometry of iron lamination stacks in the stator and rotor. Two different stator winding layouts are employed: a conventional three-phase star connection and a combined star–delta winding. In addition, two rotors are considered: a conventional rotor without magnets and a rotor with ferrite magnets. The performance of the four SynRMs is evaluated using a two-dimensional (2D) Finite Element Model (FEM). For the same copper volume and current, the combined star–delta-connected stator with Permanent Magnets (PMs) in the rotor corresponds to an approximately 22% increase in the output torque at rated current and speed compared to the conventional machine. This improvement is mainly thanks to adding ferrite PMs in the rotor as well as to the improved winding factor of the combined star–delta winding. The torque gain increases up to 150% for low current. Moreover, the rated efficiency is 93.60% compared to 92.10% for the conventional machine. On the other hand, the impact on the power factor and losses of SynRM when using the star–delta windings instead of the star windings is merely negligible. The theoretical results are experimentally validated using four identical prototype machines with identical lamination stacks but different rotors and winding layouts.