Temperature rise

Temperature rise

The temperature rise of a machine depends on the power loss per cooling area S

In electrical machines, the design of heat transfer is of equal importance as the electromagnetic design of the machine, because the temperature rise of the machine eventually determines the maximum output power with which the machine is allowed to be constantly loaded. As a matter of fact, accurate management of heat and fluid transfer in an electrical machine is a more difficult and complicated issue than the conventional electromagnetic design of an electrical machine. However, as shown previously in this material, problems related to heat transfer can to some degree be avoided by utilizing empirical knowledge of the machine constants available. When creating completely new constructions, empirical knowledge is not enough, and thorough modeling of the heat transfer is required. Finally, prototyping and measurements verify the successfulness of the design. The problem of temperature rise is twofold: first, in most motors, adequate heat removal is ensured by convection in air, conduction through the fastening surfaces of the machine and radiation to ambient. In machines with a high power density, direct cooling methods can also be applied. Sometimes even the winding of the machine is made of copper pipe, through which the coolant flows during operation of the machine. The heat transfer of electrical machines can be analyzed adequately with a fairly simple equation for heat and fluid transfer.

The most important factor in thermal design is, however, the temperature of ambient fluid, as it determines the maximum temperature rise with the heat tolerance of the insulation. Second, in addition to the question of heat removal, the distribution of heat in different parts of the machine also has to be considered. This is a problem of heat diffusion, which is a complicated three-dimensional problem involving numerous elements such as the question of heat transfer from the conductors over the insulation to the stator frame. It should be borne in mind that the various empirical equations are to be employed with caution. The distribution of heat in the machine can be calculated when the distribution of losses in different parts of the machine and the heat removal power are exactly known. In transients, the heat is distributed completely differently than in the stationary state. For instance, it is possible to overload the motor considerably for a short period of time by storing the excess heat in the heat capacity of the machine