Electric Motor Thermal Management R&D (Presentation)

Conference · Sat Nov 01 04:00:00 EDT 2014

OSTI ID:1168771

Bennion, K.

Thermal constraints place significant limitations on how electric motors ultimately perform. Without the ability to remove heat, the motor cannot operate without sacrificing performance, efficiency, and reliability. Finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics modeling approaches are being increasingly utilized in the design and analysis of electric motors. As the models become more sophisticated, it is important to have detailed and accurate knowledge of both the passive thermal performance and the active cooling performance. In this work, we provide an overview of research characterizing both passive and active thermal elements related to electric motor thermal management. To better characterize the passive thermal performance, the effective thermal properties and inter-lamination thermal contact resistances were measured for different stator lamination materials. The active cooling performance of automatic transmission fluid (ATF) jets was also measured to better understand the heat transfer coefficients of ATF impinging on motor copper windings. Ford's Mercon LV was the ATF evaluated in this study. The presentation provides an overview of prior work with a focus on describing future plans for research to be performed during FY15.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Vehicle Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1168771
• Report Number(s): NREL/PR-5400-63004
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID
COOLING
ELECTRIC MACHINE
ELECTRIC MOTOR
ELECTRIC MOTORS
HEAT TRANSFER
LAMINATIONS