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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Xiang Shen, Dr Xu DengORCiD, Professor Barrie Mecrow, Dr Rafal Wrobel, Dr Richard Whalley
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024 by the authors. Featured Application: The work specifically targets the enhancement of cooling mechanisms in high-power permanent magnet electrical machines, with a direct application in improving the thermal management of stator windings in such devices. This advancement can significantly benefit sectors like aerospace, where the efficiency, reliability, and longevity of electrical machines are critical. This paper investigates innovative methods for enhancing heat transfer efficiency in high-power permanent magnet electrical machines. The objectives are to quantify the effects of increasing the air speed, increasing the turbulence intensity, and introducing the spacing between windings on cooling performance. The cooling of stator windings is studied through experimental wind tunnel testing and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling. The CFD model is validated against wind tunnel measurements to within 4 Kelvin (K). The results demonstrate that each enhancement method significantly improves the cooling capability. Increasing the air speed from 10 m/s to 40 m/s reduces the winding hotspot temperature by 34%. Introducing a high turbulence intensity of 40% leads to a 21% lower hotspot temperature compared to 0.5% turbulence intensity. Creating a 1.5 mm spacing between coils also substantially improves convection and conduction heat transfer. Overall, combining these optimised design parameters yields over a 40% reduction in hotspot temperature compared to the original design. This research provides practical guidance for maximising heat transfer efficiency in high-power permanent magnet machines, without increasing complexity. The findings will lead to higher machine efficiency, reliability, and longevity for aerospace and other applications.
Author(s): Shen X, Deng X, Mecrow B, Wrobel R, Whalley R
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Applied Sciences
Year: 2024
Volume: 14
Issue: 6
Online publication date: 21/03/2024
Acceptance date: 16/03/2024
Date deposited: 20/05/2024
ISSN (electronic): 2076-3417
Publisher: MDPI
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062658
DOI: 10.3390/app14062658
Data Access Statement: Data is contained within the article.
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