Assessment of Different Cooling Techniques for Reduced Mechanical Stress in the Windings of Electrical Machines

Bishal Silwal, Abdalla Hussein Mohamed, Jasper Nonneman, Michel De Paepe and Peter Sergeant
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Bishal Silwal: Department of Electrical Energy, Metals, Mechanical Constructions and Systems, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Abdalla Hussein Mohamed: Department of Electrical Energy, Metals, Mechanical Constructions and Systems, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Jasper Nonneman: EEDT-Flanders Make, The Strategic Research Center for the Manufacturing Industry, B-9052 Gent, Belgium
Michel De Paepe: EEDT-Flanders Make, The Strategic Research Center for the Manufacturing Industry, B-9052 Gent, Belgium
Peter Sergeant: Department of Electrical Energy, Metals, Mechanical Constructions and Systems, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Thermal loading can induce mechanical stresses in the windings of electrical machines, especially those impregnated with epoxy resins, which is mostly the case in modern traction motors. Although designers look for cooling techniques that give better performance in terms of the power density and efficiency of the machine, several thermal cycles can lead to fatigue and the degradation of the copper insulation, epoxy and consequently the windings. In this paper, the performance of different cooling techniques has been compared based on the temperature distribution and the mechanical stress induced in the windings. Three-dimensional finite element thermo-mechanical models were built to perform the study. Two different variants of water jacket cooling, two configurations of direct coil cooling and two cases of combined water jacket and direct coil cooling methods have been considered in the paper. The results show that the combined water jacket and direct coil cooling perform the best in terms of the temperature and also the mechanical stress induced in the windings. An experimental set-up is built and tested to validate the numerical results.

Keywords: cooling methods; direct coil cooling; electrical machines; mechanical stress; temperature; thermal analysis; water jacket cooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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