Thermal Performance Improvement by Rotating Thermosyphon Loop in Rotor of an Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Electric Motor

Abstract

As an attempt to enable a further increase in the power-to-weight ratio of an electric motor by improving its cooling performance, rotating thermosyphon loops in a rotor of a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor are proposed. The effective thermal conductivity and airflow heat-transfer rate of the rotating thermosyphon loop and the convective heat-transfer coefficient over the annular interior surface of the air chamber are measured to permit the definition of the thermal boundary conditions for simulating the temperature fields of the electric motors. The axial heat-transfer pathway with extremely high effective thermal conductivity attributing to the phase-change activities in the rotating thermosyphon loop acts synergistically with the heat convection enhancement induced by the stirring effect of the spinning condenser bend in the air chamber to improve the heat transmission out of the rotor core. The spatially average temperature gradients in the rotor with the thermosyphon loops are considerably moderated from those without the thermosyphon loop. At rotor speeds and electrical currents in the ranges of 1200–1500 rev/min and 1000–1200 A, the maximum temperatures in the rotors with the single- and twin-end rotating thermosyphon loops are, respectively, reduced 8–14 °C and 10–22 °C from those without a rotor-cooling scheme, affirming the effectiveness of a phase-change cooling device in a rotor for thermal performance improvement of an electric motor.