The thermal modeling and design process of highly utilized electric machines is a complex task. The main heat paths within an electric drive are influenced by a variety of different thermal interfaces, that can mainly be described by thermal conduction and convection. The proper selection and estimation of these design parameters is challenging especially in the early design stage. This paper provides a systematic investigation evaluating inaccuracies and design influences of single thermal resistances, such as the convective heat transfer in the rotor-stator annulus, in the cooling jacket or interfaces between different machine components. Within the study, electromagnetic finite element models and thermal lumped parameter models of two traction drives are developed and validated using test bench measurements. The thermal design parameters are varied in a range resulting from intensive literature research and own laboratory experience. The influence of the design parameters in different operational points of the drives are studied in a sensitivity analysis.

In this work, the influences on the torque generated by permanent magnet synchronous machines are identified to provide approaches to improve the accuracy of torque calculation. By analyzing the torque generation mechanism, basic machine parameters influencing the generated torque are identified. The machine torque is split into different components, i.e. synchronous, reluctance, and parasitic torque components. The parasitic component results from non-linearities such as saturation. In a second step, environmental and operational conditions influencing those basic parameters are determined. Based on this analysis, the remanence flux density of the permanent magnets, the magnetization behavior of the soft-magnetic material, and the iron losses are selected for the study. Two traction drive machine designs are used in the parameter study. The machine torque is evaluated by performing 2D magnetostatic Finite-Element simulations of the investigated machine designs. The results show quantify the interdependencies between the torque components and the model parameters. The significance of the influence of the parameters on the accuracy of the torque calculation is discussed.

Preformed coils are used in electrical machines to improve the copper slot fill factor. A higher utilization of the machine can be realized. The improvement is a result of both, low copper losses due to the increased slot fill factor and an improved heat transition out of the slot. In this study, the influence of these two aspects on the operational improvement of the machine is studied. Detailed simulation models allow a separation of the two effects. A preform wound winding in comparison to a round wire winding is studied. Full machine prototypes as well as motorettes of the two designs are built up. Thermal finite element models of the stator slot are developed and parameterized with the help of motorette microsections. The resulting thermal lumped parameter model is enlarged to represent the entire electric machine. Electromagnetic finite element models for loss calculation and the thermal lumped parameter models are parameterized using test bench measurements. The developed models show very good agreement in comparison to the test bench evaluation. The study indicates that both, the improvements in the heat transition path and the advantages of the reduced losses in the slot contribute to the improved operational range in dependency of the studied operational point.

The power density of traction drives can be increased with advanced cooling systems or reduced losses. In induction machines with housing and shaft cooling, the produced heat in the stator and rotor winding system needs to be extracted over the rotor and stator lamination. The influence of soft magnetic material parameters, such as texture, thickness or alloy components on the magnetization and loss behavior, are well studied. Studies about influencing factors on the thermal conductivity are hard to find. Within this study, eight different soft magnetic materials are analyzed. An analytical approach is introduced to calculate the thermal conductivity. Temperature-dependent measurements of the electric resistivity are performed to obtain sufficient data for the analytical approach. An experimental approach is performed. The thermal diffusivity, density, and specific heat capacity are determined. An accuracy study of all measurements is performed. The analytical and the experimental approach show good agreement for all materials, except very thin specimens. The estimated measurement error of those specimens has high values. The simplified case study illustrates the significant influence of the different soft magnetic materials on the capability to extract the heat in the given application.

Purpose: Due to the increasing amount of high power density high-speed electrical machines, a detailed understanding of the consequences for the machine’s operational behaviour and efficiency is necessary. Magnetic materials are prone to mechanical stress. Therefore, this paper aims to study the relation between the local mechanical stress distribution and magnetic properties such as magnetic flux density and iron losses. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, different approaches for equivalent mechanical stress criteria are analysed with focus on their applicability in electrical machines. Resulting machine characteristics such as magnetic flux density distribution or iron are compared. Findings: The study shows a strong influence on the magnetic flux density distribution when considering the magneto-elastic effect for all analysed models. The influence on the iron loss is smaller due to a high amount of stress-independent eddy current loss component. Originality/value: The understanding of the influence of mechanical stress on dimensions of electrical machines is important to obtain an accurate machine design. In this paper, the discussion on different equivalent stress approaches allows a new perspective for considering the magneto-elastic effect.