Review of air-cooling strategies, combinations and thermal analysis (experimental and analytical) of a permanent magnet synchronous motor

Abstract

This paper gives a brief review of advanced cooling methods and applications to the permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs), as well as investigates the cooling systems design problem for PMSM systems. Heat sources and losses together with analytical and practical analyses are described. Next, the temperature distribution and its influence on the PMSM is investigated using simulation results. The main part of the paper includes a review of the proposed cooling methods that will release the requirement of heat transfer of the PMSM. The finite element methods (FEM) are applied using the AnSys CFD software to obtain high accuracy thermal model of the PMSM system. The new developed forced air-cooling methods are given in details, which enable to effectively redistribute the temperature and heat transfer increasing the efficiency of the PMSM machine. Examples of CFD simulation are outlined to illustrate the effectiveness and benefits of the strategies developed.