Stator Housing Guide Elements Reduce Cooling Pressure Drop
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Solution Overview
Problem
The pressure drop across meandering cooling paths in electric machine stator housings increases with the length of the cooling path or volume flow of the cooling fluid, leading to thermal faults and reduced efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating guide elements within deflection portions to separate the cooling path into sub-paths, reducing flow separation and pressure drop, while maintaining or slightly increasing the flow cross-section, thus allowing for less powerful pumps or increased volume flow without significant temperature increase.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the cooling path is made longer or the volume flow is increased to improve cooling effectiveness, then the cooling performance is improved, but the pressure drop across the cooling path increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling path is segmented into multiple cooling sub-paths by introducing guide elements within the deflection portions. This segmentation divides the single long cooling path into several shorter parallel sub-paths, reducing the pressure drop in each individual sub-path while maintaining overall cooling effectiveness through increased total flow capacity.
2Stress or pressure
If guide elements are added to divide the cooling path into sub-paths to reduce pressure drop, then the pressure drop is reduced, but the flow cross-section is reduced due to the addition of guide elements
Solution Approach 1:
The guide elements are positioned within the deflection portions and extend in the axial direction, utilizing the third dimension (axial length) rather than merely reducing the radial flow cross-section. This allows the guide elements to divide the flow path without significantly blocking the overall flow area, as they occupy only a portion of the available space in the axial dimension.
3Temperature
If the number of main portions or length of cooling path is increased to improve cooling coverage, then the cooling coverage is improved, but the pressure drop increases with increasing length
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling path is segmented into multiple cooling sub-paths by introducing guide elements within the deflection portions. This segmentation divides the single long cooling path into several shorter parallel sub-paths, reducing the pressure drop in each individual sub-path while maintaining overall cooling effectiveness through increased total flow capacity.
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
Significantly reduces pressure drop by 67.7%, enabling the use of less powerful pumps or increased volume flow with the same pressure drop, and maintaining low temperature increases within the electric machine.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure drop across the cooling path is caused quite significantly by a flow separation in the region of the deflection portions which may be significantly reduced by dividing the cooling path into the cooling sub-paths
Implementation Method 2
Heat is generated due to electrical winding resistances of the stator windings... it is therefore necessary to cool the machine... by means of a cooling fluid... through which the cooling fluid may flow
Data Source
AI summary
A stator housing for an electric machine, includes a cooling channel through which a cooling fluid may flow and which has a plurality of main portions extending in the axial direction or in the circumferential direction, wherein adjacent main portions are connected by deflection portions of the cooling channel in such a way that a meandering cooling path is formed, wherein a guide element is formed within each of the deflection portions and separates the cooling path into two cooling sub-paths.