Summary
Switched reluctance motors have an innate characteristic of producing significant amount of radial forces during its motoring operation owing to the nonuniformity in the air gap of the motor. This inherent radial force can be properly utilized, if produced using an external power source and controlled actively using a controlled algorithm for bearingless operation of the motor. This paper presents a single set of stator winding called bridge configured winding, which has the ability to generate both torque and radial force. The winding structure forms two sets of terminal connections in each phase's winding, one for the torque production and one for generating controllable radial force for suspension of the motor. The potential paths and commutation period for the winding currents to produce both torque and radial forces are identified, and an analytical model is developed for a 12/8 bearingless switched reluctance motor. The principle and insight of the proposed single winding scheme and its behaviour with the incorporation of the power converter circuits coupled with a speed‐current controlled drive system are analysed using a finite element model for both motoring and radial force production. The finite element–based results are validated with the analytical results obtained.