3D Meandering Cooling Channel for Electric Machine Heat Dissipation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Electrical machines, such as motors, face performance limitations due to inefficient heat dissipation, particularly in stator end windings and rotors, where direct cooling is not feasible, leading to suboptimal utilization of active materials and heat loss hotspots.
Innovation Solution
A three-dimensional meandering cooling system is created using end shields and coolant distributor plates, forming a cooling channel with horizontal, vertical, and circumferential sections that direct a cooling medium to effectively dissipate heat from stator end windings and rotors, enhancing heat transfer through turbulence and increased surface area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cooling methods (air cooling or simple liquid cooling jackets) are used, then the cooling system is simple to implement, but heat dissipation efficiency is insufficient particularly in stator end windings and rotor regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional two-dimensional cooling channel layouts to a three-dimensional meandering cooling channel structure. The cooling medium flows through horizontal sections, vertical sections, and circumferential sections in sequence, creating a spatially distributed cooling path that increases heat transfer surface area and improves cooling efficiency in difficult-to-reach regions like stator end windings and rotor areas without requiring additional cooling components.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling channel is divided into multiple distinct sections: horizontal cooling duct sections, vertical cooling duct sections, and circumferential cooling duct sections. Each section is designed to target specific heat-generating regions of the electrical machine. This segmentation allows the cooling system to address localized hotspots in different spatial zones, improving overall heat dissipation efficiency while maintaining a integrated cooling structure.
2Temperature
If the cooling channel is designed to effectively cool stator end windings and rotor regions, then heat dissipation performance improves, but manufacturing complexity and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple cooling functions into a single integrated meandering cooling channel structure. Instead of implementing separate cooling systems for stator and rotor regions, the cooling medium flows continuously through horizontally arranged sections, vertically arranged sections, and circumferentially arranged sections that are merged into one cohesive channel. This integration simplifies manufacturing by reducing the number of separate cooling components and assembly steps while achieving comprehensive cooling coverage.
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 allows for targeted heat dissipation from hotspots, increasing machine performance while maintaining the same volume, reducing manufacturing complexity, and achieving efficient cooling with cost-effective production methods.
Implementation Method 1
A cooling medium, e.g. oil, water or glycol, can be conducted through the cooling channel
Implementation Method 2
enhancing heat transfer through turbulence and increased surface area
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a cooling system for an electric machine (1). The cooling system comprises at least one end shield (10, 11) and at least one coolant distributor plate (12, 13), wherein the end shield (10, 11) and the coolant distributor plate (12, 13) are configured to together form a cooling channel (14). The cooling channel (14) comprises a plurality of horizontal cooling channel sections (15, 16), which extend parallel to an axis of rotation (D) of the electrical machine (1), a plurality of vertical cooling channel sections (17), which extend perpendicular to the axis of rotation (D) of the electrical machine (1), and a plurality of radial cooling channel sections (24, 27), which extend around the axis of rotation (D) of the electrical machine (1). The three different cooling channel sections (15, 16) are connected to each other in such a way that the cooling channel (14) has, at least in some regions, a three-dimensional meandering profile.