Power electronic converters for motors with bifilar windings

There is a high demand to improve performance and efficiency of motors used in domestic applications but there is constant downward pressure on manufacturing cost. This thesis identifies switched reluctance motors and flux switching motors as being low cost brushless motor technology and shows that bifilar windings can lead to lower cost electronic converters.;The thesis develops innovative power electronic converters for motor incorporating bifilar windings. Novel circuits for reliable capture, dissipation or recovery of energy associated with leakage inductance of the closely coupled bifilar windings are presented.;Two applications identified are dual voltage drives and bipolar excited motor drives. Several bifilar converter drives are presented in detail in this thesis. These include converters with dissipative snubbers, converters with energy recovery snubbers, converters with nondissipative snubbers and converters with inherent freewheel capability. Each of the presented converters offers advantages in cost and/or performance over existing converters.