Control of a Linear Switched Reluctance Motor in Electric Train Application

Abstract

Linear electrical motors are good candidates for the industries with linear motion. The use of rotational electrical motors in linear movements, require additional mechanical converters, which in addition to reducing system efficiency, also increase maintenance costs. Linear electric motors are similar to rotary motors in terms of structure and performance, except that instead of rotary motion, they directly create linear motion. Therefore, they can be very effective in certain applications such as electric trains. By eliminating the mechanical converter between the electric motor and the wheels, efficiency is increased, while noise pollution is significantly reduced. Moreover, due to the reduction of heat losses caused by friction, the device is able to move at high speeds. In this work, application and control of a linear switched reluctance motor in railway system has been proposed which is low cost comparing with other linear motors. Simulation results confirm that the proposed motor can be a suitable candidate for the application.