Brushless starter-generator with independently controllable exciter field

Abstract

A starter-generator system supplies a controllable torque to a gas turbine engine, to thereby assist in starting the gas turbine engine, by independently controlling excitation frequency and/or voltage magnitude. The starter-generator includes a multi-phase exciter stator, a rotationally mounted multi-phase exciter rotor, a multi-phase main stator, a rotationally mounted multi-phase main rotor, and an exciter controller. The rotationally mounted multi-phase exciter rotor has a plurality of exciter rotor windings wound thereon that, upon excitation thereof with a rotating electromagnetic exciter flux generated by the exciter stator, have non-rectified excitation currents induced therein. The rotationally mounted multi-phase main rotor has a plurality of main rotor windings wound thereon that are electrically connected to receive the non-rectified excitation currents induced in the exciter rotor windings and that, upon excitation thereof with a rotating electromagnetic flux and in response to the non-rectified excitation currents supplied thereto, have currents induced therein that generate a main rotor torque to thereby cause the multi-phase main rotor and the multi-phase exciter rotor to rotate. The exciter controller is electrically coupled to at least the exciter stator and is configured to selectively supply the electrical excitation thereto, to thereby selectively control the generated main rotor torque.