Coli, F., Iozzia, E., Fasano, M., & Hey, J. (2025). DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF AN EMBEDDED DUAL CHANNEL COOLING STRUCTURE FOR AN AXIAL FLUX PERMANENT MAGNET SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR. Proceeding of 10th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference (TFEC), 1371–1377. https://doi.org/10.1615/tfec2025.mes.055967
Abstract:
This study focuses on the thermal management of an Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (AFPMSM) designed for an electric two-wheeler. The aim of the analysis is to enhance the performance of the motor through an effective heat removal strategy. The temperature rise in the motor affects the overall efficiency and performance of the machine. Effective thermal management allows an increase of the torquespeed limit as well as the power output while maintaining the same motor's physical dimension. In particular, the PMSM under investigation has a central stator structure with embedded cooling channels within the stator to better exploit the available space. In this paper, several configurations of the cooling channels are analysed to minimize the motor's winding temperature rise. A dual channel cross-flow configuration is considered in order to improve the temperature uniformity on the stator and windings. The channel design is targeted at enhancing the effectiveness of the heat dissipation by introducing secondary flow, i.e. turbulence. This is mainly achieved with a curved channel geometry. A conjugate heat transfer analysis is conducted using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to model the temperature distribution. Specifically, the conductive heat transfer in the solid domains and the convective one in the fluid domain are investigated. A comparison between the proposed cooling channels is performed by adopting a dimensionless Performance Evaluation Criterion (PEC). A value greater than 1 indicates an improvement in the cooling design with respect to a straight pipe configuration. This metric considers both temperature and pressure related aspects, providing an evaluation of the best overall performance.
License type:
Publisher Copyright
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR) - Industry Alignment Fund - Pre-Positioning
Grant Reference no. : M22K4a0044
Description:
For the publisher's version, please refer to: https://doi.org/10.1615/tfec2025.mes.055967