Development of air-cooling concepts for electric motor used in electric aircrafts (original) (raw)
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Most modern airplanes are powered with IC engines because electrical propulsion was not feasible at the dawn of powered flight. It became viable only recently due to advancements made on electric propulsion systems. Weight and space are key factors for airplanes. Increasing the power density of the engine can enable the design of more efficient and more powerful planes. One way to achieve this is to increase the power level of the electric motor which also increases the power loss. In this case more efficient cooling is needed to remove the excess heat. The aim of this paper is to determine the optimal cooling solution for the stator of a radial flux permanent magnet (PM) electric motor which is installed in an electric airplane. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used for the comparison of the developed concepts and their sub-concepts. The results are detailed for every initial concept and then the three best designs are chosen for further optimisation. Most modern airplanes are...
Journal of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, 2020
In this paper, the authors present a computational model of a fin-based air cooling system for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) electric motors. The model can be used as a method for fast and efficient feasibility studies of air cooling for PMSM motors in hybrid-electric or all-electric aviation applications, supplementing further research (thermal resistance networks, and FEA/CFD-CHT models). In the paper, authors provide temperature distributions along the fin height which are calculated and presented for a straight fin, followed by heat transfer rate from fin surface and fin efficiency. A parameter to compare different fin materials for aviation applications is introduced-heat transfer rate from the fin to fin mass ratio. Aluminum and copper fins are compared. Different shapes of straight fin are considered and compared. The above parameters and comparison are then calculated and given for circular fins. Parameters of the whole fin-based air cooling system for specific 140 kW PMSM motor are calculated and presented.
CFD simulations of electric motor end ring cooling for improved thermal management
Proper thermal management of an electric motor for vehicle applications extends its operating range. One cooling approach is to impinge Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) onto the rotor end ring. Increased ATF coverage correlates to enhanced heat transfer. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analytical tools provide a mechanism to assess motor thermal management prior to hardware fabrication. The complexity of the fluid flow (e.g., jet atomization, interface tracking, wall impingement) and heat transfer makes these simulations challenging. Computational costs are high when solving these flows on high-speed rotating meshes. Typically, a Volume-of Fluid (VOF) technique (i.e., two-fluid system) is used to resolve ATF dynamics within this rotating framework. Suitable numerical resolution of the relevant physics for thin films under strong inertial forces at high rotor speeds is computationally expensive, further increasing the run times. In this work, a numerical study of rotor-ring cooling by ATF is presented using a patent automated Cartesian cut-cell based method coupled with Automatic Mesh Refinement (AMR). This approach automatically creates the Cartesian mesh on-the-fly and can effectively handle complex rotating geometries by adaptively refining the mesh based on local gradients in the flow field which results in better resolution of the air-ATF interface. A Single non-inertial Reference Frame (SRF) approach is used to account for the rotating geometry and to further improve the overall computational efficiency. Quasi-steady state conditions are targeted in the analysis of the results. Important physics such as ATF jet structure, velocity detail near the air-jet interface, ATF coverage/accumulation on the ring surface, and cooling capacity are presented for a low-resolution Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS), high-resolution RANS, and high-resolution Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) models. Computations are scaled over hundreds of cores on a supercomputer to maximize turnaround time. Each numerical approach is shown to capture the general trajectory of the oil jet prior to surface impingement. The high-resolution LES simulation, however, is superior in capturing small scale details and heat transfer between the free jet and surrounding air.
Investigation of Thermal Performance of Electric Vehicle BLDC Motor
Overreliance on petroleum products and environmental pollution from combustion emissions produced by automobiles has led to extensive research on hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles and their components. A key component in these vehicles is the electric motor, used for traction as well as powering other appliances like the compressor. Overheating in electrical motors results in detrimental effects such as degradation of the insulation materials, magnet demagnetization, increase in Joule losses and decreased motor efficiency and lifetime. Hence, it is important to find ways of optimizing performance and reliability of electric motors through effective cooling and consequently reduce operating and maintenance costs. This study describes 3D CFD simulations performed on a totally enclosed air over fan cooled brushless D.C. motor to identify the temperatures of the critical components of the motor, and the effect of varying thermal parameters of these temperatures. The energy sources are obtained from electromagnetic losses computed using MAXWELL, a commercial FEA software and bearing losses obtained through numerical methods developed by the authors. A finned casing is used as the heat sink and the effect of varying the fin geometry on the cooling performance is examined using three heat sink designs. The results show that the highest temperature occurs at the end windings and that this temperature can be reduced by up to 15% by introduction of a suitable finned housing. These results show that CFD can be effectively used to optimize the cooling performance of electric motors. Experimental tests are undergoing in order to validate the CFD results..
Design of a Direct-Liquid-Cooled Motor and Operation Strategy for the Cooling System
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To make an all-electric aircraft possible, both high power densities and efficiencies are needed. However, particularly high demands are also placed on the thermal management system. Often, the electric motor and cooling system are considered without co-optimization. Particularly in the case of electric motors with conductors directly cooled by a liquid, there is great potential for optimization, since the temperature-dependent Joule losses determine the largest part of the losses. This publication shows the main influencing parameters for the electric motor and cooling system: coolant speed and winding temperature. In addition, the influence of the cooling system control during a flight mission is demonstrated and its potential in mass reduction is quantified. It could be shown that with a low utilized electric motor the maximum winding temperature of 130 °C is beneficial, the cooling system should work in almost all operation points in its sized operation and the mass of the heat ...
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Thermal study of electric engine cooling (EEC) motors is conducted using 3D CFD and conjugate heat transfer analysis. Complicated airflow fields and temperature distribution inside the motor are obtained. Predicted temperatures agree well with experimental results.
Recent Developments in Cooling Systems and Cooling Management for Electric Motors
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This study provides an overview of new trends in the development of cooling systems for electric motors. It includes a summary of academic research and patents for cooling systems implemented by leading motor manufacturers at TRL9. New trends in the cooling management of air and liquid cooling systems are discussed and analyzed with a focus on temperature distribution and its influence on the power-to-dimension ratio of electric motors. The prevailing cooling method for synchronous and asynchronous motors is air cooling using external fins, air circulation ducts, air gaps, and fan impellers to enhance efficiency and reliability. Internal cooling with rotor and stator ducts, along with optimized air duct geometry, shows potential to increase the power-to-dimension ratio and reduce motor size. Liquid cooling systems offer a power-to-dimension ratio of up to 25 kW/kg, achieved through redesigned cooling ducts, stator heat exchangers, and cooling tubes. However, liquid cooling systems a...
Air-gap Flow and Thermal Analysis of Rotating Machines using CFD
Energy Procedia, 2017
Thermal management of the rotating electrical machines is a very challenging area which needs appropriate solutions for each machine and operating condition. The heat is generated by the electromagnetic losses and the mechanical friction during the rotation. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used in this study to predict and analyze the thermal performance of a rotating electrical machine where high speed rotation is coupled with small flow gaps. The investigation presented in this paper is based on a geometry used for model assessment and verification purposes. However, the approach outlined and the observations made are transferrable to other geometries. ANSYS Fluent has been used to perform CFD simulation where both the air velocity field and the temperature distribution are obtained. The results are qualitatively highly interesting to understand the thermal behavior within an electrical machine operations. The results show a periodic temperature distribution on the stator surface with similar periodic pattern for the heat transfer coefficient on the rotor surface. The simulated average heat transfer coefficient at the rotor surface is compared with the correlations from published literature with an overall good agreement.
IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 2013
This paper presents a practical approach to model thermal effects in directly cooled electric machines. The main focus is put on modeling the heat transfer in the stator winding and to the cooling system, which are the two critical parts of the studied machines from a thermal point of view. A multisegment structure is proposed that divides the stator, winding, and cooling system into a number of angular segments. Thereby, the circumferential temperature variation due to the nonuniform distribution of the coolant in the cooling channels can be predicted. Additionally, partial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are carried out to model the coolant flow in the cooling channels and also on the outer surface of the end winding bodies. The CFD simulation results are used as input to the analytical models describing the convective heat transfer to the coolant. The modeling approach is attractive due to its simplicity since CFD simulations of the complete machine are avoided. The proposed thermal model is evaluated experimentally on two directly cooled induction machines where the stator winding is impregnated using varnish and epoxy, respectively. A good correspondence between the predicted and measured temperatures under different cooling conditions and loss levels is obtained. Index Terms-Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), conductive heat transfer, convective heat transfer, directly cooled electric machines, induction machines, lumped parameter (LP) thermal models. NOMENCLATURE A Ch Cooling channel cross-sectional area. A EW End winding ring cross-sectional area of one slot in the axial direction. A EW ,Cu Copper cross-sectional area of the end winding ring in the circumferential direction.
Thermal Analysis of Radial-Flux Electrical Machines With a High Power Density
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2008
A lumped-parameter-based thermal analysis applicable to radial-flux electrical machines with a high power density is presented. The modeling strategies using T-equivalent lumped-parameter blocks as well as conventionally defined thermal resistances are discussed. Special attention is paid to the modeling of the convective heat transfer in the air gap of radial-flux electrical machines at different rotational speeds. A brief overview of the evaluation of different loss components is given. The performance of the developed thermal model was verified by comparing the calculated temperature values with the measurements in three different applications.