In-Wheel Motor Airflow Cooling Through Stator Openings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional in-wheel motors face challenges with heat dissipation, particularly during extended acceleration and deceleration, leading to overheating issues that limit their performance and safety, especially in sport modes or racing conditions.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a wheel assembly with a stator and rotor that includes openings for air flow, centrifugal force-driven airflow through spoke apertures, and a cover to exhaust air, along with a chassis support system for enhanced heat dissipation, allowing air to flow from the proximal to the distal side or vice versa, depending on the direction of rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If in-wheel motors are used to eliminate transmission systems, then friction losses are reduced, but magnetic losses and overheating still occur during extended acceleration and deceleration
Solution Approach 1:
The motor is divided into multiple independent stator units, each capable of being selectively activated or deactivated. This segmentation allows specific stator units to be switched off when overheating occurs, enabling localized heat management while maintaining motor functionality through the remaining active units.
Solution Approach 2:
The motor employs periodic activation and deactivation of stator units to manage heat generation. By cycling which stator units are active, the system can allow certain units to cool down while others operate, preventing sustained overheating during extended acceleration and deceleration periods.
2Temperature
If stator units are selectively deactivated to avoid overheating, then temperature control is improved, but motor power and performance are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The motor system dynamically adjusts which stator units are active based on real-time temperature conditions and power demands. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the motor to maintain optimal power output by activating sufficient stator units while preventing any single unit from overheating, thus resolving the trade-off between temperature control and power maintenance.
3Temperature
If conventional cooling methods are used, then some heat dissipation is achieved, but overheating still occurs during sport mode or racing conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The motor system performs its own cooling management by selectively deactivating stator units that are overheating. This self-service approach allows the motor to autonomously regulate its temperature without requiring external cooling intervention, ensuring operational safety during high-stress conditions like sport mode or racing by preventing overheating-induced failures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively reduces engine temperature, enabling the motor to operate safely and efficiently without overheating, with temperature reduction from 90°C to 60-70°C, allowing safe handling and improved performance.
Implementation Method 1
rotation of the rotor around the stator causes an air flow through the openings... due to a centrifugal force created during rotation of the rotor around the stator
Data Source
AI summary
A wheel assembly comprising a stator and a rotor housing the stator for relative rotation around the stator. The rotor has magnets for interacting with electrical winding of the stator to provide the relative rotation about a central longitudinal axis. The stator has openings extending from a stator proximal side to a stator distal side, and rotation of the rotor around the stator causes an air flow through the openings for heat dissipation. In normal operation of the wheel assembly, the air flows from the wheel assembly proximal side towards the wheel assembly distal side through the openings due to a centrifugal force created during rotation of the rotor around the stator. In an embodiment, an arm used to connect the stator to the chassis of the vehicle comprises through-openings along a longitudinal axis which is parallel to a movement direction of the vehicle to force air through the through-openings for additional heat dissipation from the stator.