An improved magnetic equivalent circuit method for predicting the characteristics of highly saturated electromagnetic devices

The Magnetic Equivalent Circuit (MEC) method has been used to model the nonlinear magnetic field in electromagnetic devices for steady-state and dynamic conditions. However for highly saturated electromagnetic device, the conventional MEC method is inaccurate in predicting device characteristics. With experience gained from the Finite Element (FE) method, the MEC method can be modified to provide significant accuracy improvement in the field solution results. The main modification is done in the modeling of the highly saturated regions. The Improved Magnetic Equivalent Circuit (IMEC) is used to predict the characteristics of a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM). The results from IMEC are compared with those obtained by conventional MEG, FE methods, and measurement.