Development of Thermal Models for

Permanent-Magnet Traction Motors

BO YANG

Master of Science Thesis in Electrical Machines and Power Electronics

at the School of Electrical Engineering
Royal Institute of Technology
Stockholm, Sweden, July 2009
Supervisor: Juliette Soulard, Florence Meier

XR-EE-EME 2009:005
 Abstract
This thesis deals with the thermal behavior of permanent magnet trac-
tion motors. Finite element (FE) and lump parameter (LP) thermal
models are developed. Temperature distribution in the motor is calcu-
lated both by analytical methods and FE simulations

The first part of the thesis consists of a literature study on principles of

heat transfer in electrical machines. Convection heat transfer is further
discussed in the following part. After that, 2D-FEM thermal simula-
tions are carried out using FLUX. Temperatures at different conditions
are compared. Since it is of great importance to predict the temperature
of permanent magnets, a LP thermal model of the rotor is developed.
The temperatures given by the LP model are verified by FE simulations.

Keywords: PM Motor, Heat Transfer, Finite Element, Lumped

Parameter Thermal Model
Acknowledgment

This master thesis was carried out at the Department of Electrical Machines and
Power Electronics (EME), KTH. This project was performed in cooperation with
Bombardier Transportation AB, Sweden.

First of all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisors

Juliette Soulard and Florence Meier for all their assistance during the whole work.
A special thank to my room mate, Andreas Kings, for his help with softwares.

I would like to thank all the personal of EME of helping me in any way. It has
been a pleasure to work here.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents and my girl friend, for their endless
love.

Yang Bo

2009-07
Contents

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature study 3
2.1 Principle of conduction and convection heat transfer . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1.1 Conduction heat transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1.2 Convection heat transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Lumped parameter (LP) thermal model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Modelling of convection heat transfer 7

3.1 Useful definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Convection in airgap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Convection in air ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.4 Correlation of natural convection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4 FEM thermal models and simulations 15

4.1 FEM thermal models in FLUX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1.1 Face and line regions in FLUX thermal application . . . . . . 15
4.1.2 Conduction and convection heat transfer in FLUX thermal
model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2 Losses at different conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.3 FEM thermal simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.3.1 Thermal simulation at normal condition . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3.2 FEM thermal simulation at turn-to-turn fault condition . . . 22
4.3.3 FEM thermal simulation at three-phase short-circuit condition 24
4.3.4 Comparison of different fault conductions . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 FEM thermal model of the rotor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5 LP thermal model for the rotor 29

5.1 The T-equivalent circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 Geometry of the LP thermal model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.3 Thermal resistances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.4 Verification of the rotor LP thermal model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
 5.4.1 Verification in Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.4.2 Verification in Case 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.4.3 Verification in Case 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.5 Discussion and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

6 Conclusions and future works 41

Bibliography 43

List of symbols 45

A Fan characteristics 47

B Rotor eddy current losses and magnet losses 49

C Calculation of thermal resistances 51

C.1 Rotor dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
C.2 Thermal resistances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 1

Introduction

Thermal analysis is of equal importance as electromagnetic analysis in electrical

machines. The life of insulation materials is strongly temperature dependent [1]. In
PM machines, the coercivity and remanence of permanent magnets decrease with
an increasing temperature [2]. This thesis focuses on the thermal behavior of PM
traction motors.

The motor investigated in this thesis is a four-pole V-shaped interior permanent

machine. The radial cross-section of the motor is shown in Fig 1.1. Air ducts are
adopted to cool the motor effectively. Heat transfer in electrical machines is in fact
a three-dimensional problem. The focus of this work is on the radial cross-section,
which means the three-dimensional problem is simplified as two-dimensional.

Figure 1.1. Radial cross-section of the motor.

1
 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Thermal modelling and analysis can be classified into two categories: lumped pa-
rameter (LP) thermal model and numerical method. In this thesis, 2D finite element
analysis is performed and a LP thermal model for the motor’s rotor is developed.
The following softwares are used:

- FLUX

FLUX is a finite element software for electromagnetic and thermal simula-

tions, which is particularly suited to electric motor analysis [3].

- PORTUNUS

PORTUNUS is a system simulation software. Besides the simulation for drive

systems, its application also includes the thermal analysis of complex systems
[4]. The rotor LP thermal network is solved by PORTUNUS in this work.

- Motor-CAD

MOTOR-CAD is aimed to simulate the heat transfer in electrical machines

using the LP thermal network [5]. It also provides the correlations of con-
vection heat transfer coefficients. However, Motor-CAD needs complete and
detailed information about the geometry and materials of the motor. In this
work, only the correlations are used.

Outline of the thesis

• Chapter 2 gives a literature review of the principle of conduction and convec-
tion heat transfer. The LP thermal network is then introduced.

• Chapter 3 focuses on the modelling of the convection heat transfer in electrical

motors. Correlations of convection heat transfer coefficients for natural and
forced convection are introduced.

• Chapter 4 describes the FEM thermal model in FLUX. Thermal simulations

at different conditions are carried out and the results are analyzed.

• Chapter 5 covers the development of the LP thermal model for the motor
rotor, aiming to predict the temperature of the permanent magnets.

• Chapter 6 summarizes the conclusions and provides some suggestions for pos-
sible future work.

2
Chapter 2

Literature study

In this chapter, the principles of conduction and convection heat transfer are in-
troduced. Also the analogy between thermal and electrical circuit is presented. At
last, the lumped parameter thermal model is described.

2.1 Principle of conduction and convection heat transfer

2.1.1 Conduction heat transfer
Conduction heat transfer is due to a temperature gradient in a solid material [6].
By means of molecular thermal activity within the material, energy is transported
without motion of the material. The basic relation of conduction heat transfer is
defined by Fourier’s law as shown in Fig 2.1 and Equ (2.1): [6],

∆T=T1-T2

T2
T1
Q A

∆x

Figure 2.1. Conduction heat transfer.

∆T
Q = −λA (2.1)
∆x
where ∆T is the temperature difference in ◦ C, Q is the heat flow in W , λ is the
thermal conductivity in W/(m◦ C), A represents the cross-sectional area in m2 and

3
 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE STUDY

∆x is the distance along the heat flow in m.

The unknown in system with conduction heat transfer is usually the temperature
distribution. This can be determined by solving the "heat diffusion equation" [6]
with boundary conditions. The equation is derived from Fourier’s law and the
conservation of energy [7]:

dT
∇ · (∇λT ) + qg = ρcp (2.2)
dt
where qg represents the heat generation rate in W/m3 , ρ is the density in kg/m3 and
cp is the specific heat in J/(kg ◦ C). In case of complex geometries, finite element
is a powerful method to solve the equation. At steady state, Equ (2.2) is simplified
as:
∇ · (∇λT ) = −qg . (2.3)
In case of no heat generation i.e. qg = 0, Laplace’s equation is obtained.

∇2 T = 0 . (2.4)

2.1.2 Convection heat transfer

Convection is the heat transfer between a solid and fluid medium due to the motion
of the fluid [6]. In electrical motors, convection heat transfer happens on the motor
outer surface, in the airgap and in the cooling ducts. In general, there are two types
of convection:

1. Natural convection, which is a result of the buoyancy force caused by the

variation of the medium’s density [8].

2. Forced convection. In this case, the movement of the medium is caused by

an external force, such as fan or pump [8]. The external force enhances the
mixing of the hot and cool medium, which makes the heat exchange more
efficient.

The basic relation of convection heat transfer is described by Newton’s law:

Q = hc As (Ts − Tf ), (2.5)

where Q is the heat transfer rate in W , hc is the convection heat transfer coefficient
in W/(m2 ◦ C), As is the surface area in m2 , Ts and Tf are the temperatures of solid
and fluid medium in ◦ C, respectively. It is clear that the major difficulty in system
with convection is to use the right value of convection heat transfer coefficient, hc .
The state of the fluid flow, i.e. laminar, vortex or turbulent, has a great influence
on convection heat transfer. To correlate hc , the first step is to determine the state
of the fluid flow.

4
2.2. LUMPED PARAMETER (LP) THERMAL MODEL

In MOTOR-CAD, the "Airgap Model" gives the correlation of hc in the motor’s

airgap [9]. In [10] and [11] other methods to calculate hc of airgap are given.
Forced convection happens in the motor’s air cooling ducts. The "Enclosed Chan-
nel Convection Correlation" is used in MOTOR-CAD [9]. Correlations of convection
coefficients are further described in Chapter 3.

2.2 Lumped parameter (LP) thermal model

Comparing Fourier’s (Equ (2.1)) and Ohm’s law (Equ (2.6)), the electrical analogy
for heat conduction is observed.
∆V
I= . (2.6)
R
The analogies are listed in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1. Analogy between thermal and electrical circuits.

Thermal Electrical
Flow Thermal flow Q [W ] Current I [A]
Potential Temperature T [◦ C] Voltage V [V ]
Rth = ∆T ◦ ∆V
Resistance Q [ C/W ] R= I [V /A]
Conductivity λ [W/(m ◦ C)] σ [S/m]

Because of the analogy, it is natural to use a lumped parameter thermal network,

which is similar to electrical network, to predict the temperature distribution in
electrical machines [12]. In a thermal network, the parts assumed to be at an ho-
mogeneous temperature are lumped together and represented as one node. Different
nodes are separated by the thermal resistances, which represent the heat transfer
path [8]. The heat power sources which are like current sources in electrical circuit
represent the losses in the machine. Then the temperatures at different nodes can
be solved. In steady state, the LP model only consists of thermal resistances and
heat power sources. For transient analysis, the thermal capacitances are also in-
cluded accounting for the storage of heat in different parts.

Thermal resistances are determined by the geometric parameters, thermal conduc-

tivities of the materials and convection heat transfer coefficients of the fluid medium
[12]. For conduction heat transfer, to calculate the thermal resistances, the first step
is to solve Laplace’s equation (Equ (2.4)) with boundary conditions. Once the tem-
perature distribution is determined, the heat flow can be calculated from Fourier’s
law. The thermal resistance is the quotient of the temperature difference and heat
flow.

5
 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE STUDY

The thermal resistance of a rectangular component is [1]:

∆T l
Rth = = , (2.7)
Q λA
where l is length of the component along the heat flow in m and A the cross sec-
tional area perpendicular to the heat flow in m2 and λ is the thermal conductivity
in W/(m ◦ C).

Thermal resistances of a cylindrical component in axial and radial directions are

[1]:
l
Rth,ax = , (2.8)
λA
ln(ro /ri )
Rth,r = , (2.9)
λ · 2πl
where ro and ri are the inner and outer radius of the cylinder, l is the length of the
cylinder in axial direction, and A is the radial cross sectional area.

Calculations of thermal resistances for arc segments and trapezoidal shapes can be
found in [13]. However, if the internal heat generation is not zero, the T-equivalent
circuit is used to represent the component, instead of only one thermal resistance
[1], [14]. The T-equivalent circuit is discussed in Chapter 4.

For convection heat transfer, the thermal resistance is directly derived from Fourier’s
law:
∆T 1
Rthconv = = . (2.10)
Q hc A

6
Chapter 3

Modelling of convection heat transfer

In this chapter, several useful definitions in fluid and thermal dynamics are intro-
duced at first. After that, correlations of convection heat transfer coefficients in
motor airgap, air ducts and outer surface are discussed.

3.1 Useful definitions

In analysis of convection heat transfer, several definitions in thermal and fluid dy-
namics are used to determine the state of the fluid medium and correlate the heat
transfer coefficients. These definitions are not extensively discussed in textbooks of
electrical engineering. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce them at first.

- Dynamic viscosity, µ

Dynamic viscosity defines the tangential force required to move one horizon-
tal plane with respect to another when they are maintained a distance apart
by the fluid [15]. The effect of temperature on dynamic viscosity of gas is
described by Sutherland’s formula [16]:
3/2
T0 + C T

µ = µ0 , (3.1)
T +C T0

where µ0 is the reference viscosity in kg/(m · s) at reference temperature, C is

the Sutherland’s constant, T and T0 are the reference and input temperature
in K, respectively.

- Reynolds number, Re

Reynolds number determines if the fluid flow is laminar, vortex or turbulent.

It gives a measure of the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces [16]:

ρvl
Re = , (3.2)
µ

7
 CHAPTER 3. MODELLING OF CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER

where ρ is the density of the fluid in kg/m3 , v is the velocity of the fluid in
m/s, and l is the characteristic length in m.

- Taylor number, T a

Instead of Reynolds number, Taylor number is often used to determine the

state of the fluid flow [10] [11]. There are various calculations of Taylor num-
ber which are not the same. The relationship between Taylor and Reynolds
number is given in Equ (3.3) [9].

1
T a = Re √ , (3.3)
dc
where dc is the dimensionless curvature defined by:

l
dc = , (3.4)
R
where R is the radius of the surface and l is the characteristic length in m.

- Nusselt number, N u

Nusselt number is defined as the ratio of convective to conductive heat transfer

[7]:
hc l
Nu = , (3.5)
λ
where hc is convection heat transfer coefficient in W/(m2 ◦ C). From Equ (3.5),
the convection heat transfer coefficient is correlated as:
Nu λ
hc = , (3.6)
l

- Prandtl number, P r

Prandtl number defines the ratio of viscous diffusion to thermal diffusion:

cp µ
Pr = , (3.7)
λ
where cp is the specific heat in J/(kg ◦ C).

- Grashof number, Gr.

Together with Prandtl number, Grashof number is used to determine the fluid
flow state in natural convection. It is a ratio of buoyancy force to viscous force
and calculated as [9]:
βgθρ2 l3
Gr = , (3.8)
µ2

8
3.2. CONVECTION IN AIRGAP

where β is the volumetric thermal expansion coefficient in 1/K and approxi-

mately equal to the reciprocal of absolute temperature. The absolute temper-
ature can be calculated as an average of the ambient and surface temperature.
g is the gravity acceleration in m/s2 , θ is the temperature difference between
surface and fluid flow in ◦ C. In case of horizontal cylinder, the characteristic
length l equals the cylinder diameter [9].

3.2 Convection in airgap

The "Airgap Model" in MOTOR-CAD describes how the heat transfer coefficient is
correlated in the airgap of electrical machines [9]. The method is used in this thesis.
In general, the first step is to determine the state of the air flow in the airgap. The
Reynolds number is calculated from Equ (3.2):
ρωrrs δag
Re = , (3.9)
µ
where ω is the rotor speed in rad/s, rrs is the rotor surface radius in m and δag is
the airgap length in m. The air flow state is determined as:

 laminar flow
 if Re < Revot
vortex flow if Revot < Re < Retur (3.10)

 turbulent flow if Re > Retur

where
√
- Revot = 41 dc, the critical vortex air flow Reynolds number,
√
- Revot = 100 dc, the critical turbulent air flow Reynolds number,

- dc = rrot sur /δag .

Based on the air flow state, different Nusselt numbers are selected to correlate the
heat transfer coefficient as shown in Equ (3.11) and (3.12).
λair
hc ag = N u · , (3.11)
2δag

where λair is the thermal conductivity of air.



 2 if laminar air flow


   0.5 0.63
1
0.212 Re P r0.27 if vortex air flow

Nu = dc (3.12)

   0.5 0.5
1
P r0.27

 0.386 Re dc if turbulent air flow



where the Prandtl number is given as a constant equal to 0.0739 in MOTOR-CAD.

9
 CHAPTER 3. MODELLING OF CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER

Seen from Equ (3.1), (3.2), (3.9) and (3.11), the convection heat transfer coeffi-
cient of airgap (hc ag ) is a function of temperature and rotor speed, when assuming
the density and thermal conductivity of air are constant. Fig 3.1 shows variation
of hc,ag with different temperatures and rotor speeds. It can be seen that hc ag

90

80
Convection heat transfer coefficient [W/m2K]

70

laminar turbulent
60
vortex

50

40

30
Increasing
temperature
T = 40 deg
T = 140 deg
20
T = 240 deg

10
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Speed [rpm]

Figure 3.1. hc ag varies with temperature and rotor speed.

increases with an increasing rotor speed and decreasing temperature. With the
given rotor diameter and airgap thickness, the air flow changes from laminar to
vortex flow when the rotor speed is above 300 rpm. When the rotor speed is above
600 rpm, the air changes to turbulent flow. The convection heat transfer coefficient
rises sharply when the air flow state changes from laminar to turbulent flow. At
the rotor speed of 3000 rpm, hc,ag reduces 5 units in average when the temperature
rises every 100 ◦ C.

The airgap has to be modeled as a thermal conducting region when using FLUX.
The principle of equivalence is that amount of heat transfer through the airgap is
kept. As a result, the thermal resistances of conduction and convection must be the
same, which leads to:
1 δag
= , (3.13)
hc ag A λeq A

N uλair
λeq = hc ag δ = , (3.14)
2

where λeq is the equivalent thermal conductivity of the airgap.

10
3.3. CONVECTION IN AIR DUCTS

3.3 Convection in air ducts

Forced convection happens in the air ducts. Fig 3.2 illustrates the heat transfer in
air ducts in radial and axial directions. The cooling air enters the motor from the
fan. It is warmed by the heat from the motor and takes the heat out of the motor.

Tend Air channel Tdum T0

Stator yoke

(a)

Housing
W Air duct

H Tdu m Air duct walls

Ts
Stator yoke

(b)

Figure 3.2. Geometry of the air ducts in (a) axial direction, (b) radial direction.

In axial direction, the relationship between the extracted heat, air flow rate and
temperature rise is:
q = cp ρQ(Tend − T0 ) = cp ρQ∆T, (3.15)
where q is the amount of heat taken out by the cooling air in W , cp is the specific
heat in J/(kg ◦ C), Q is the air flow rate in m3 /s, T0 and Tend are the air entering
and exiting temperatures in ◦ C, respectively.

The air flow rate at different rotor speeds is shown in App.A. Seen from (3.15),
if the air flow rate Q is high enough, the temperature rise ∆T can be neglected,
which means T0 ≈ Tend . Therefore, in LP thermal model, the air cooling ducts can
be modeled as a constant temperature reference [10]. On the other hand, if Q is not
large enough, a linear temperature rise along axial direction needs to be assumed
[17]. In MOTOR-CAD, the air ducts are modeled as a heat sink. In order to get
the mean temperature in the air ducts, an iterative process is needed. With the
linear temperature rise, the mean temperature (Tdu m ) in the air ducts is:

1 1
Tdu m = (T0 + Tend ) = T0 + ∆T (3.16)
2 2

11
 CHAPTER 3. MODELLING OF CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER

The air entering temperature T0 is usually 40 ◦ C according to [1]. The temperature

rise ∆T is between 15 ◦ C and 40 ◦ C [1].

In radial direction, from Newton’s law (see Equ (2.5)):

q = hc du As (Tdu m − Ts ), (3.17)
where hc du is the convection heat transfer coefficient of the cooling air in W/(m2 ◦ C),
As is the surface area in m2 , and Ts is the surface temperature of the air ducts in ◦ C.

Correlation of hc du is given by the "Enclosed Channel Convection Correlation" in

MOTOR-CAD [18]. Again, the first step is to determine the state of the air flow.
In this case, the Reynold number is calculated as:
Dh V
Re = , (3.18)
ν
where Dh is the air duct hydraulic diameter in m, V is the air flow speed in m/s,
and ν is the air flow kinematic viscosity in P a s. In MOTOR-CAD, ν equals 1.689 ·
10−5 P a s. And in case of rectangular air ducts, the hydraulic diameter is obtained
by:
Ach
Dh = 4 · , (3.19)
Sch
where Ach and Sch are the cross sectional area and perimeter of the air duct, re-
spectively.

The state of the cooling air is determined as:


 laminar flow
 if Re < 2800
transition if 2800 < Re < 10000 (3.20)

 turbulent flow if Re > 10000
Once the air flow state is determined, hc du is calculated as shown in Equ (3.21) and
(3.22).
λair
hc du = N u · , (3.21)
Dh
  2  3
 7.49 − 17.02 · H + 22.43 H H 0.065(Dh /l)·Re·P r
W W − 9.94 W + if laminar air flow
Nu = 1+0.04[(Dh /l)·Re·P r]2/3
 f · (Re−1000)P r
8 1+12.7·(f /8)0.5 ·(P r2/3 −1) if turbulent air flow
(3.22)
where l is the characteristic length of the surface which equals the active length
of the motor in this case, H and W are the height and width of the air duct,
respectively, and f is the friction factor and equals:
f = [0.79 · ln(Re) − 1.64]−2 (3.23)
Within the range of the given fan characteristic (see App.A), the air flow is turbu-
lent. Fig 3.3 shows the convection heat transfer coefficient as a function of rotor
speed. At 3000 rpm, hc du equals 104.4 W/(m2 ◦ C).

12
3.4. CORRELATION OF NATURAL CONVECTION

180

160
heat transfer coefficient [W/m2K]
140

120

100

80

60

40
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Motor speed [rpm]

Figure 3.3. variation of hc du with rotor speed.

3.4 Correlation of natural convection

Natural convection happens at the motor outer surface. Reference [9] gives the
method of correlation of natural convection for horizontal cylinder, which is suitable
for electrical motors. The air flow state is determined by the product of Prandtl
(Equ 3.7) and Grashof number (Equ 3.8), as shown in Equ (3.24).
(
laminar if 104 < GrP r < 109
(3.24)
turbulent if 109 < GrP r < 1012

Natural convection heat transfer coefficient hc na is calculated as:

λair
hc na = N u · , (3.25)
D
where D is the outer diameter of the motor.
(
0.525(Gr · P r)0.25 if laminar air flow
Nu = (3.26)
0.129(Gr · P r)0.33 if turbulent air flow

Since the Grashof number is temperature dependent, for precise calculation of hc na ,

an iterative process is needed.

13
Chapter 4

FEM thermal models and simulations

In this chapter, the FEM thermal models in FLUX are introduced. Then the FEM
thermal simulations at different conditions, i.e. normal, turn-to-turn fault and
three-phase short-circuit are discussed. The temperatures in different parts of the
motor are compared. At last, the FEM model for the rotor is developed to check the
effect of the magnet insulation in order to verify the LP thermal model in Chapter
5.

4.1 FEM thermal models in FLUX

4.1.1 Face and line regions in FLUX thermal application
Besides magnetic and electric simulations, FLUX acn also be used for thermal appli-
cations [3]. Face regions in FLUX are used to model a group of components which
have the same thermal properties. There are two different types of face regions in
thermal application [3]:
1. Thermal conducting region with heat thermal source, in which material and
possible thermal source need to be specified. The thermal conductivity is
defined in material’s properties.
2. Inactive region, which means this region is disregarded during simulation.
Face regions can only be used to model the conduction heat transfer.

Line regions in FLUX are used to provide the boundary conditions or to char-
acterize the convection and radiation heat transfer [3]. Four different types of line
regions are defined in FLUX thermal application [3]:
1. Thermal conducting region with heat thermal source. In this type of line
region, the thermal conductivity and thermal source need to be defined. It
is supposed to be efficient to model thin layers with this type of line region.
However, the thermal conductivity is ignored during simulation (reported bugg
in the software).

15
 CHAPTER 4. FEM THERMAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

2. Region with surface thermal exchanges and heat source. With this type of
line region, the convction and radiation thermal heat transfer can be modeled.
The coefficients of convection and radiation transfer need to be specified.
Adiabatic boundary conditions can also be realized using this type of line
region by allying zero heat transfer coefficients.

3. Imposed temperature on the boundary. This type of line region characterizes

the boundary conditions with fixed temperatures.

4. Inactive region.

4.1.2 Conduction and convection heat transfer in FLUX thermal model

Finite element analysis is a powerful method to solve conduction heat transfer prob-
lems in solid components, especially for complex geometries. In FLUX, the thermal
conducting parts of the motor i.e. magnets, windings, iron, etc. are modeled as
"thermal conducting face regions" in which the thermal conductivities and thermal
sources are taken into account.

Convection heat transfer happens in the airgap, air ducts and outer surface of the
motor. However, the convection heat transfer can not be directly modeled in FLUX.
Only "line region with surface of thermal exchange" can be applied to boundaries
to characterize the convection heat transfer. The solution is to use conducting face
regions with an equivalent thermal conductivities or line regions instead:

- Airgap: Thermal conducting region with an equivalent thermal conductivity

(λag eq );

- Air ducts: The air-ducts walls are modeled as line regions with a heat transfer
coefficient of hc du . The air ducts are modeled as "inactive face regions";

- Motor outer surface: A line region with heat transfer coefficient for natural
convection (hc na ) is applied to the motor outer surface.

Calculations of λag eq , hc du and hc na can be found in Chapter 3. Fig 4.1 shows the
geometry of the thermal model in FLUX.

4.2 Losses at different conditions

An electromagnetic FEM model for the investigated motor was developed by Juliette
Soulard [19]. In this model, the electrical circuit associated to the geometry model
is shown in Fig 4.2 [19]. By opening or closing the switches appropriately, the turn-
to-turn and three-phase fault conditions can be simulated. A detailed description
of the model can be found in [19].

In case of turn-to-turn fault, the current supplied to the stator winding is 200 A

16
 Motor outer surface
Boundary condition - natural convection.
Frame, thermal conducting region,
steel.

Figure 4.1. Geometry of the FLUX thermal model.

Air-duct walls.
Boundary condition - forced convection.
Air ducts, inactive region.
Stator yoke, thermal conducting region with thermal source,
iron limitation.
Stator tooth, thermal conducting region with thermal source,
iron lamination.
Symmetrical lines: adiabatic boundary conditions

Winding, thermal conducting region with thermal source,

4.2. LOSSES AT DIFFERENT CONDITIONS

copper.

17
Coil insulation and spacer, thermal conducting region ,
mica.
Wedge, thermal conducting region , epoxy.
Rotor iron, thermal conducting region with thermal source,
iron lamination.
Magnet, thermal conducting region with thermal source,
NdFeB.
Rotor slot, thermal conducting region ,
epoxy.
Airgap, equivalent thermal conducting region.
Shaft.
Boundary condition - imposed temperature 100 °C or 150 °C
 CHAPTER 4. FEM THERMAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

Phase A

Short-circuit turns

Phase B

Phase C

Figure 4.2. Electrical circuit in FLUX [19].

and the rotor speed is 3000 rpm, respectively. The windings are disconnected from
the current sources one period after the short circuit happens. Fig 4.3 and 4.4 show
the currents in the short-circuit and healthy turns in different three phases. It can
be seen that, in steady state, a small amount of current goes through the healthy
turns and almost all the current goes through the short-circuit turns. Therefore the
copper losses in the faulted slots are much largerin the healthy ones. The losses at
normal conditions are also obtained from the same simulation.

Using the same model, the FE electromagnetic simulation of a three-phase short-

circuit condition was carried out by Florence Meier [20]. The same current and
rotor speed as the case of turn-to-turn fault condition are used. Table 4.1 gives the
losses at different conditions.

In turn-to-turn fault condition, although large amount of losses is generated in the

short-circuit turns, the difference in total losses are not large compared with normal
condition. The three-phase fault gives much more losses than normal condition. The
magnet losses are not included in Table 4.1. The magnet losses are obtained from
"active power" in FEM simulations. It is observed that the magnet losses are much
smaller compared with other losses. The total losses in all magnets are 42 W at
normal condition.

4.3 FEM thermal simulations

The loss powers are obtained from of finite element electromagnetic simulations and
are applied to the corresponding face regions. At the rotor speed of 3000 rpm, an
equivalent thermal conductivity (λag eq ) of 0.12 W/(m ◦ C) is applied to the air gap.
The heat transfer coefficient for natural convection (hnu = 5.68 W/(◦ Cm2 )) is ap-

18
4.3. FEM THERMAL SIMULATIONS

2000
I_RSC

1500

1000

Current [A]

500

−500 Short−
circuit

Normal disconnected from the current source

−1000
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
Time [s]

(a)

150
I_RA1
I_RA2
100

50
Current [A]

−50

−100

−150

−200
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
Time [s]

(b)

Figure 4.3. Currents at turn-to-turn fault in phase A (a) short-circuit turns,

(b) healthy turns.

200 200
I_RB1 I_RC1
I_RB2 I_RC2
150 150

100 100
Current [A]

Current [A]

50 50

0 0

−50 −50

−100 −100

−150 −150
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
Time [s] Time [s]

(a) (b)

Figure 4.4. Currents at turn-to-turn fault in (a) phase B, (b) phase C.

19
 CHAPTER 4. FEM THERMAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

Table 4.1. Losses at different conditions.

Losses [W ] Copper Stator iron Rotor iron total

losses losses losses
Normal condition 4800 1562 466 6792
. Turn-to-turn 3659 1185 307 5151
fault
Three-phase 15644 573 115 16332
short-circuit

plied to the motor outer surface. The heat transfer coefficient for forced convection
(hdu ) of 104 W/(◦ Cm2 ) is applied to the air-duct walls. The ambient tempera-
ture is 40 ◦ C. Two different temperatures, i.e. 100 ◦ C and 150 ◦ C are applied to
the shaft [20]. The mean temperature of air ducts are obtained from Equ (3.17).
Temperatures at the points shown in Fig 4.5 are checked.
1 Shaft
2 Magnet (central)
3 Magnet (peripheral)
4 Rotor iron (mid)
5 Rotor iron (top)
6 Winding (bottom)
7 Winding (top)
8 Teeth (mid)
9 Teeth (top)
12 10 Yoke (mid)
11 Yoke (top)
11 12 Frame

10
7
6 9
3 8

5
2

Figure 4.5. Temperature check points.

4.3.1 Thermal simulation at normal condition

In this case, because of the symmetry, only one quarter of the motor is simulated.
As a result, the losses in Table 4.1 are divided by 4 and applied to the model. The
mean temperature of the air ducts is 75 ◦ C [20]. Temperatures at points shown in
Fig 4.5 are checked and illustrated in Fig 4.6.

It can be seen the highest temperature of 199 ◦ C appears in the windings near the
airgap, since they are far from the cooling ducts. The temperature drops greatly
across the airgap. As a result, although the rotor temperatures varies greatly with

20
4.3. FEM THERMAL SIMULATIONS

(a)

(b)

Figure 4.6. Temperature distribution at normal condition (a) color shaded

temperature distribution, Tshaf t = 150 ◦ C, (b) temperatures at check points,
Tshaf t = 100 ◦ C and 150 ◦ C.

different shaft temperatures, the stator temperature is slightly influenced. The

temperature of the motor frame is 138 ◦ C and 142 ◦ C with the shaft temperature
of 100 ◦ C and 150 ◦ C, respectively.

With the simulation results, the amount of heat that transfers through the air-
gap can be calculated. Equ(4.1) gives the heat transfer rate through a cylinder in

21
 CHAPTER 4. FEM THERMAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

radial direction:
2πLλ∆T
Q= (4.1)
ln(Ro /Ri )
where Q is the heat transfer rate in W , L is the length of the cylinder in m, λ is
the thermal conductivity in W/(m◦ C), ∆T is the temperature difference in ◦ C, Ro
and Ri are the outer and inner radius of the cylinder in m, respectively.

Fig 4.7 shows the temperature difference along the airgap. The airgap is divided
into 200 segments in the circumferential direction. The heat transfer rate is:

200
4 2πLλag eq X
qr = ∆Ti = 1179 W , (4.2)
200 ln(Ro /Ri ) i=1

about 18.5% of the total stator losses.

22

20
temperature difference [K]

18

16

14

12

10
0 50 100 150 200
distance along the rotor surface [mm]

Figure 4.7. Temperature difference across the airgap.

4.3.2 FEM thermal simulation at turn-to-turn fault condition

In this case, the complete motor is simulated since the symmetry is broken by the
fault. The rotor speed is 3000 rpm. Because of the asymmetry, the face region of
stator windings is further divided into short-circuit turns and different phases as
shown in Table 4.2. Assuming all the stator losses are extracted by the cooling air,
the mean temperature of 66 ◦ C in the air ducts is obtained from Equ (3.17).

Temperatures at points (see Fig 4.5) near the faulted slots shown in Fig 4.8 are
checked. It can be seen from Fig 4.9 that an extremely high temperature (820 ◦ C)

22
4.3. FEM THERMAL SIMULATIONS

Table 4.2. Winding face regions in turn-to-turn condition.

Face regions Losses [W ]

Short-circuit 3492
turns
Phase A1 51.85
Phase A2 59.62
.
Phase B1 23.48
Phase B2 23.48
Phase C1 4.6
Phase C2 4.6
total 3659

Area 1

Fault slot 1

Area 2

Fault slot 2

Figure 4.8. Fault areas.

would appear if a thermal steady-state would be reached without changing condi-

tions in the faulted slot due to the large short-circuit current. As a result, the stator
yoke and teeth near the faulted slots are exposed to a high temperature (300 ◦ C).
The highest frame temperature is 174 ◦ C, about 30 ◦ C higher than normal condi-
tion. Thanks to the low thermal conductivity of the airgap, the temperatures in
the middle of the magnets do not increase very much.

23
 CHAPTER 4. FEM THERMAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

(a)

(b)

Figure 4.9. Temperature distribution at turn-to-turn fault condition, (a) color

shaded temperature distribution, Tshaf t = 150 ◦ C (b) temperatures at check
points, Tshaf t = 150 ◦ C.

4.3.3 FEM thermal simulation at three-phase short-circuit condition

In this case, only one quarter of the motor is simulated and the losses in Table 4.2
are divided by 4 when applied to the FEM thermal model. The mean temperature
in the air ducts is 124 ◦ C from Equ (3.17). Fig 4.10 shows the temperature distri-
bution.

24
4.3. FEM THERMAL SIMULATIONS

(a)

(b)

Figure 4.10. Temperature distribution at three-phase fault condition (a) color

shaded temperature distribution, Tshaf t = 150 ◦ C, (b) temperatures at check
points, Tshaf t = 100 ◦ C and 150 ◦ C.

The highest temperature of 427 ◦ C would appear if a thermal steady-state would be

reached without changing conditions in the windings of bottom slot. Temperature
rise in magnet is 30 ◦ C comparing with normal condition. Average temperature of
rotor frame is 280 ◦ C, about 140 ◦ C higher than that of normal condition.

25
 CHAPTER 4. FEM THERMAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

4.3.4 Comparison of different fault conductions

It is of interest to compare the temperature in different parts of the motor at turn-
to-turn and three-phase short-circuit conditions. Generally, the turn-to-turn fault
gives rise to a local hot area near the fault slots. In three-phase symmetrical fault,
since the total losses are much higher than that for a turn-to-turn fault, the average
temperatures in different parts of the motor are higher.

Table 4.3 gives the temperature comparison in different parts of the motor with
the shaft temperature of 150 ◦ C. It can be seen that three-phase short circuit gives
higher temperatures in magnets, rotor iron, stator teeth, yoke and frame. Since
almost all the copper losses are concentrated in the faulted windings when a turn-
to-turn fault happens, the temperatures in the faulted windings are much higher.

Table 4.3. Temperature comparison between three-phase short-circuit and turn-to-

turn fault conditions, Tshaf t = 150 ◦ C.

Temperature [◦ C] Three-phase short-circuit Turn-to-turn fault

Area 1 Area 2
Shaft 150 150 150
Magnets central 193 166 164
peripheral 219 174 174
Rotor iron mid 183 168 167
top 205 185 180
.
Winding bottom 427 826 325
top 411 322 731
Teeth mid 386 373 307
top 370 298 294
Yoke mid 325 223 230
top 307 200 203
Frame 282 176 179

4.4 FEM thermal model of the rotor

Two FEM thermal models for the motor rotor are build in FLUX as shown Fig
4.11. Magnet insulation is included in Model 2. The material of magnet insulation
is Kapton whose thermal conductivity is 0.385 W/(m ◦ C). The magnet insulation
is modeled as thermal conducting region. The rotor iron is divided into four parts

26
4.4. FEM THERMAL MODEL OF THE ROTOR

as shown in Fig 4.11. Adiabatic boundary conditions are applied to both sides to
define the symmetry.

Rotor surface Rotor surface

xis

xis
Magnet insulation
-a

-a
,q

,q
n

n
iro

iro
tor

tor
le

le
idd

idd
Ro

Ro
,m

,m
on

on
r ir

r ir
to

to
Ro

Ro
t
ne
g
l ma
tra
xis

xis
_C en
-a

-a
_P
PM C
_P
_C

,d

,d
PM
PM
PM

n
ro

ro
ri

ri
Rotor slot Rotor slot
to

to
Ro

Ro
(a) (b)

Figure 4.11. Half pole of the motor rotor, (a) Model 1 without magnet insu-
lation, (b) Model 2 with magnet insulation.

In order to investigate the influence of magnet insulation, temperatures in the center

of magnets are checked at the following two conditions:

- Case 1: Temperature difference is introduced between the rotor surface (Trot suf =
200 ◦ C) and shaft (Tsh = 100 ◦ C). The rotor iron and magnet losses are not
taken into account.

- Case 2: Temperatures at rotor surface and shaft are the same, Trot suf = Tsh =
100 ◦ C. Losses are introduced in the rotor iron regions and magnets. From
FEM electromagnetic simulations, the losses in magnets are quite small (see
App. B). In order to make the temperature rise more obvious, a "fictional"
large amount of losses are assigned to the magnets and rotor iron regions. The
losses in the central and peripheral magnets are 1 and 0.5 kW , respectively.
The losses input to the four rotor iron regions are 0.5 kW , respectively.

Table 4.4 shows the comparison of the magnets temperatures in these two cases.
It can be seen that, if there are no losses in the magnets and rotor iron, the dif-
ference is not obvious. Once the losses are introduced in the rotor iron, especially
in the magnets, the temperatures of magnets with insulations are 8.5% higher in
average. This is reasonable, since the heat generated in the magnets is blocked by
the insulation material whose thermal conductivity is low.

27
 CHAPTER 4. FEM THERMAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

Table 4.4. Influence of the magnet insulation.

Case 1 Case 2
Temperature [◦ C] P MC P MP P MC P MP
. Without magnet insulation 156 181 207 197
With magnet insulation 159 184 230 212
difference [%] 1.88 1.63 10 7.08

28
Chapter 5

LP thermal model for the rotor

In this chapter, the T-equivalent circuit used to model the heat transfer with internal
heat generation is firstly introduced. Then the lumped parameter (LP) thermal
model for the rotor at steady state is described. Temperature predictions from the
thermal network are compared with FEM thermal simulations at different losses
and boundary conditions.

5.1 The T-equivalent circuit

The T-equivalent circuit used to analyze the relation between heat flow and the
mean component temperature is extensively used for induction motors [1] [14]. The
principle is explained with the example of heat transfer in a rectangular plate as
shown in Fig 5.1.

T1 T2

Figure 5.1. One dimensional heat transfer in rectangular plate.

From Equ (2.3), Poisson’s equation for simple one-dimensional temperature distri-

29
 CHAPTER 5. LP THERMAL MODEL FOR THE ROTOR

bution is:
d2 T (x)
λ = −qg (5.1)
dx2
where T is the temperature in ◦ C, λ is the thermal conductivity in W/(m ◦ C) and
qg is the heat density in W/m3 . Integrating Equ (5.1) and applying the boundary
conditions, the solution is:

qg x2 T2 − T1 qg l
T (x) = − + x+ x + T1 (5.2)
2λ l 2λ
where l is the length of the plate.

Therefore, the mean temperature Tm of the rectangular plate is calculated as:

Z l
1
Tm = T (x)dx , (5.3)
l 0

qg l2 T1 + T2
Tm = + . (5.4)
12λ 2
Seen from Equ (5.4), the mean temperature consists of two parts: the average
temperature rise due to the internal heat generation (first term on the right side)
and the mean value of the boundary temperatures (second term on the right side).
Recalling Equ (2.7), the thermal resistance of rectangular plate is defined as:

l
R= (5.5)
λA
Inserting Equ (5.5) into Equ (5.4) leads to,

l T1 + T2 R T1 + T2
Tm = qg lA + =Q + (5.6)
λA 2 12 2
where Q = qg lA is the total heat dissipated in. the component

Based on Equ (5.6), an equivalent circuit shown in Fig 5.2 [1],[14] is developed.
A negative thermal resistance (Rm = −R/6) is introduced to keep Tm with the
same value as Equ (5.6).

The T-equivalent circuit can also be used when there is no internal heat generation,
i.e. Q equals zero. In some other conditions, if the internal heat generation Q or
the thermal resistance R are small, Rm can be approximated to zero, which leads
to:
R T1 + T2
Tm = Q + . (5.7)
4 2
QR
In this case, the error is 6 .

30
5.1. THE T-EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT

Tm
R
Rm = −
6

T1 T2
R R
2 2

Figure 5.2. T-equivalent circuit for one-dimensional heat transfer.

In case of a two-dimensional heat transfer problem, for example, the heat trans-
fer in permanent magnets, it is assumed that the heat transfer in horizontal and
vertical directions are independent [1]. Two T-equivalent circuits are paralleled con-
nected as shown in Fig 5.3.

T3

Ry
Ry 2
Rmy = −
Tm 6
Q
Rx
Rmx = −
6

T1 T2
Rx Rx
2 2

Ry
2

T4
x

Figure 5.3. T-equivalent circuit for two-dimensional heat transfer.

In [1] and [14], the analytical calculation of Rm for rectangular and cylindrical
shapes are given. In [13], the calculation and approximation of Rm for trapezoidal
shape and arc segment are discussed.

31
 CHAPTER 5. LP THERMAL MODEL FOR THE ROTOR

5.2 Geometry of the LP thermal model

Because of the symmetry, only 1/8 (half pole) of the complete rotor is modeled. As
shown in Fig 5.4, the rotor is generally divided into three parts:

- Permanent magnets: central and peripheral magnets;

- Magnet slots;

- Rotor iron which is further divided into four regions: rotor iron in the middle,
along d and q axis and the rotor surface.

Rotor surface
xis
-a
,q
n
iro
tor

le
idd
Ro

,m
on
r ir
to
Ro
t
ne

t
g

ne
ma

ag
l

m
tra

xis
al
n

er

-a
Ce

,d
rip

n
Pe

ro
ri

Rotor slot
to
Ro

Figure 5.4. Half pole of the rotor.

The effect of magnet insulation is not considered.

Fig 5.5 shows the LP thermal model of the rotor. Since the thermal network is
only used to predict the temperature at steady state, the thermal capacitances are
not included. The loss sources are placed at the middle of the magnets and iron
parts where the losses are generated. The thermal resistance of the iron near ro-
tor surface is neglected and only the losses are introduced. Two parallel-connected
T-equivalent circuits are used to model the magnets both in radial and tangential
directions. In the d axis and middle parts of rotor iron, the T-equivalent circuit is
only applied in the radial direction.

Simplifying the thermal network in Fig 5.5 by series and parallel connections of

32
5.3. THERMAL RESISTANCES

p2
q_
t_
ro
R

ad
P

c_r
sl _
Rp
N1

p1
q_
t_
ro
R

ad
c _r
m_
Rp
P

p
a d_

d_
mi
c _r
P

ot_
N3

m_

Rr
Rr

Rp
ot_
N2 q_
m

m
m

d_
g_

mi

d
c _t

ra
ot_

p_
m_

l_
Rr

ps
Rp
Rp

R
g
m_

c _t
c_t
P

sl _
g
P

Rp
c
q_
t_

N5
ro
R

Rpm_p_rad
N4

c
g_
_t
_p
pm
Rpm_p_rad_c

R
Rp
m_
c_r
ad Rpm_p_tg
_c
mid

Rpsl_p_tg

p
d_
ot _

N10

ot _
Rr

Rr
ad
N6
_r
_p
pm
R

Rrot_sh
P

c1
N9 N7

d_
ot_
Rr
Rcsl_c_tg Rcsl_c_tg N8 Rcsl_c_tg Rcsl_c_tg Rrot_d_c2
Rrot_d_c4 Rrot_d_c4
Rrot_d_c3 Rrot_d_c3 Rrot_d_c3 Rrot_d_c3

Figure 5.5. LP model of the rotor half pole.

the resistances (see App.C), a thermal circuit with 11 nodes and 22 resistances is
obtained as illustrated in Fig 5.6. This circuit is solved by Portunus and the node
temperatures are obtained.

5.3 Thermal resistances

The thermal resistances of magnets are easily calculated from Equ (5.5). However,
in the other parts, because of the irregular shapes, exact analytical calculations
of the the thermal resistances [13] are complex. The solution is to simplify these
irregular shapes as rectangles with mean widths and heights. Take the rotor iron
along the q axis for example, as shown in Fig 5.7:
W78
Rrot q p1 = (5.8)
2λf er L(H78 + H77 )/2
W78
Rrot q c = (5.9)
2λf er L(H78 + H88 )/2
Rrot q p1 + Rrot q c
Rrot q m = − (5.10)
2·3

33
 CHAPTER 5. LP THERMAL MODEL FOR THE ROTOR

T_rot_surf

WM
WM
Pri_rot_surf TM1
1

Rpm_c_rad_p
Rpm_p_rad_p
Rrot_q_p R_rot_mid_p
TM5
TM3
Rrot_d_p
Ppm_c Ppm_p
Rpm_c_rad_m 3 Pri_mid Rpm_p_rad_m 5
Rrot_mid_m 4

Rpm_c_tg_c Rpm_p_tg_c
Pri_q Pri_d
2

Rrot_q_m Rpm_c_tg_q Rpm_c_tg_mid Rpm_p_tg_mid Rpm_p_tg_d 6

TM6
TM2 TM4

Rrot_q_c
Rrot_mid_c Rpm_p_rad_c Rrot_d_c
Rpm_c_rad_c

10
9 8 7
Rrot_cbri_m Rrot_cbri_c Rrot_cbri_p

TM10 TM9 TM8 TM7

Rsh

11
T
T_shaft

Figure 5.6. Simplified thermal network for the rotor.

where L is the active length of the motor and λf er is the thermal conductivity of
the rotor iron.

The calculation of all the resistances in Fig 5.5 and 5.6 can be found in App.C.
It should be noticed that all the resistances should be divided by 8 when this model
is extended to the complete rotor.

5.4 Verification of the rotor LP thermal model

To verify the accuracy of the LP model, the results from Portunus are compared with
the ones from FEM thermal simulations at different boundary and losses conditions:

- Case 1: temperature difference is introduced between shaft and rotor surface

and there is no magnet and iron losses;

- Case 2: same temperature is applied to shaft and rotor surface and magnet

34
5.4. VERIFICATION OF THE ROTOR LP THERMAL MODEL

H77

W78 H78

H88

Figure 5.7. Rotor iron along the q axis.

and iron losses are considered;

- Case 3: Both temperature difference between shaft and rotor surface and
magnet and iron losses are taken into account.

The FEM model of the rotor is described in Section 4.4. To make the temperature
rise more obvious, the relatively large amount of "fictional" losses are put into the
magnets and rotor iron.

5.4.1 Verification in Case 1

In this case, the temperature of shaft (Tshaf t ) and rotor surface (Trot sur ) are set to
100◦ C and 200◦ C, respectively. Neither magnet nor iron losses are introduced. Fig
5.8 shows the temperature distribution from FEM thermal simulation. Table 5.1
lists the comparison of the results.

The error at central and peripheral magnets are −2.04% and −0.33%, respectively.

5.4.2 Verification in Case 2

In this case, the same temperature of 100◦ C is applied to the shaft and rotor surface.
The losses in the central and peripheral magnets are 1kW and 0.5kW , respectively.
The losses applied to the middle, d and q axis, rotor surface iron regions are 0.5kW ,
respectively. Fig 5.9 shows the temperature distribution from FEM thermal simu-
lation. Table 5.2 lists the comparison of the results.

The temperatures in central and peripheral magnets from the LP model are 3.47%
and 2.68% lower than those from the FEM simulation, respectively. The largest

35
 CHAPTER 5. LP THERMAL MODEL FOR THE ROTOR

(a) (b)

Figure 5.8. Case 1 (a) Temperature distribution, (b) Equi-temperature lines.

Table 5.1. Temperature comparison in Case 1.

Node Circuit FEM Error %

1 200 200 –
2 148,8 152,4 -2,36
3 153,5 156,7 -2,04
4 178,2 176,2 1,14
5 181,3 181,9 -0,33
.
6 195,5 196,5 -0,51
7 183,5 176,7 3,85
8 166 163,2 1,72
9 137,2 135,7 1,11
10 120,6 117,7 2,46
11 100 100 –

36
5.4. VERIFICATION OF THE ROTOR LP THERMAL MODEL

(a) (b)

Figure 5.9. Case 2 (a) Temperature distribution, (b) Equi-temperature lines.

Table 5.2. Temperature comparison in Case 2.

Node Circuit FEM Error %

1 100 100 –
2 184,8 184,5 0,16
3 200 207,2 -3,47
4 181 187,5 -3,47
5 192,1 197,4 -2,68
.
6 133,3 129,5 2,93
7 162,9 174 -6,38
8 194,2 190,9 1,73
9 169,4 160,7 5,41
10 152 138,2 9,99
11 100 100 –

37
 CHAPTER 5. LP THERMAL MODEL FOR THE ROTOR

error appears at point near the shaft (Node 10), where the temperature predicted
by the LP model is 10% higher than given by the FEM simulations..

5.4.3 Verification in Case 3

Case 3 combines Case 1 and Case 2. Tshaf t equals 100◦ C and Trot sur equals 200◦ C.
The losses in the central and peripheral magnets are 1kW and 0.5kW , respectively.
The losses applied to the middle, d and q axis, rotor surface iron regions are 0.5kW ,
respectively. Fig 5.10 shows the temperature distribution from FEM thermal sim-
ulation. Table 5.3 lists the comparison of the results.

(a) (b)

Figure 5.10. Case 3 (a) Temperature distribution, (b) Equi-temperature lines.

Table 5.3. Temperature comparison in Case 3.

Node Circuit FEM Error %

1 200 200 –
2 233,6 235,9 -0,97
3 253,2 261,4 -3,14
4 259,2 269,5 -3,82
5 273,4 280,2 -2,43
.
6 228,9 223,2 2,55
7 246,4 251 -1,83
8 260,2 253,9 2,48
9 206,7 195,1 5,95
10 172,7 155,3 11,20
11 100 100 –

38
5.5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The temperature at central and peripheral magnets from the LP model are 3.14%
and 2.43% lower than that from the FEM simulation, respectively. The biggest
error appears at point near the shaft (Node 10), which is 11.2% higher.

5.5 Discussion and conclusion

Using the T-equivalent circuits based LP thermal model, a relatively accurate tem-
perature prediction for the magnets can be achieved in different losses and boundary
conditions. However, large errors (around 10%) appears at the point near the shaft
when losses are introduced.

On the other hand, "fictional" losses and boundary temperature have been used
to verify the thermal model. Since there is no relative movement between the rotor
and fundamental flux field, the losses of the rotor are small in PM synchronous
machines. This means that Case 1 is closest to the real conditions, and in that case
really small differences between FEM and LP results have been obtained.

39
Chapter 6

Conclusions and future works

The presented work in this thesis has mainly revolved around the thermal behavior
of permanent magnet motors in traction application. FEM thermal simulations give
the temperature distribution of the motor at different conditions in steady state.
FEM analysis provides details of the temperature distribution. It is a powerful
tool to solve the thermal problem of complex geometry in steady state. A lumped
parameter thermal model is developed for the rotor and gives the temperature pre-
diction of the permanent magnets.

Suggestions for the future work are summarized in the following:

• The work in this thesis focuses in the radial cross section. The thermal models
can be extended to three dimensions including the heat transfer in axial di-
rection. The temperatures of the end windings and bearing can be predicted.

• Thermal transient analysis can be carried out both with FEM and LP thermal
models.

• The temperature prediction is strongly dependent on the losses prediction of

the motor. Therefore, one possible future work is to investigate the iron losses
and magnet losses of the motor and to predict them with accuracy.

• The results obtained from FEM and LP thermal models in this thesis should
be validated with measurements.

41
Bibliography

[1] T.A. Lipo. Introduction to AC Machine Design. University of Wisconsin, 2nd

edition, 2004.
[2] Chandur Sadarangani. Electrical Machines, Design and Analysis of Induction
and Permanent Magnet Motors. KTH, 2006.
[3] Flux 9.30 user’s guide, April 2006.
[4] Portunus, April 2009. http://www.motor-design.com/partners.php.
[5] Motor-cad software, April 2009. Motor Design Ltd.
[6] Frank P. Incropera and David P. DeWitt. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass
Transfer . Wiley, 6th edition, 2006.
[7] Heat transfer. http://en.wikipedia.org/.
[8] AE Bergles. Evolution of cooling technology for electrical, electronic, and
microelectronic equipment. IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging
Technologies, 26(1):6–15, 2003.
[9] DA Staton. Thermal Analysis of Electric Motors and Generators, Training
Course. Motor Design Ltd, 2007.
[10] Lindstrom J. Thermal Model of a Permanent-Magnet Motor for a Hybrid Elec-
tric Vehicle. Licentiate thesis, Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg,
Sweden, 1999.
[11] N. Bianchi, S. Bolognani, and F. Tonel. Thermal analysis of a run-capacitor
single-phase induction motor. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications,
39(2):457–465, 2003.
[12] Y.R. Chin. A permanent magnet traction motor for electric forklifts–Design
and iron loss analysis with experimental verifications. PhD thesis, KTH, Swe-
den, 2006.
[13] ZJ Liu, D. Howe, PH Mellor, and MK Jenkins. Thermal analysis of permanent
magnet machines. In Electrical Machines and Drives, 1993. Sixth International
Conference on (Conf. Publ. No. 376), pages 359–364, 1993.

43
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

[14] PH Mellor, D. Roberts, and DR Turner. Lumped parameter thermal

model for electrical machines of TEFC design. IEE Proceedings B [see also
IEE Proceedings-Electric Power Applications] Electric Power Applications,
138(5):205–218, 1991.

[15] Dynamic viscosity. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/.

[16] Fluid dynamics. http://en.wikipedia.org/.

[17] Y. Lee, S. Hahn, and S.K. Kauh. Thermal analysis of induction motor with
forced cooling channels. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 36(4), 2000.

[18] DA Staton and A. Cavagnino. Convection heat transfer and flow calculations
suitable for analytical modeling of electric machines. In 32nd Annual Confer-
ence of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IECON), pages 7–10.

[19] J. Smeets. Study of Turn-to-turn Failure in Permanent Magnet Traction Motor

for Railway Applications. Internal Report, Electrical Machines and Power
Electronics division, KTH, 2008.

[20] Discussion with F. Meier. Bombardier Transportation, Sweden, 2009.

44
List of Symbols

Symbols
A cross sectional area m2
As stator surface area m2
cp specific heat J/(kg ◦ C)
dc dimensionless curvature
D diameter m
Gr Grashof number
hc convection heat transfer coefficient W/(m2 ) ◦ C
l length of component m
L active length of the machine m
Nu Nusselt number
Pr Prandtl number
qr heat density W/m3
Q heat flow / flow rate W m3 /s
Re Reynolds number
Sch air channel perimeter m
T temperature ◦C

Ta Taylor number
V velocity m/s
λ thermal conductivity W/(m ◦ C)
ρ density kg/(m3 )
β load angle ◦

µ Dynamic viscosity P

Acronyms and abbreviations

FE finite element
LP lumped parameter

45
Appendix A

Fan characteristics

The fan characteristics are given by Florence Meier, Bombardier Transportation

[20]. Table A.1 lists the air flow rate, air speed and pressure drop at different rotor
speeds. Fig A.1 shows air flow rate variation with the rotor speed.

Table A.1. Fan characteristics.

Motor speed [rpm] Air flow [m3 /s] Air speed [m/s] Pressure fall [P a]
1000 0.091 8.6 80.2
2000 0.186 17.5 313.5
2500 0.234 22 486.3
3000 0.282 26.5 696.3
. 3500 0.33 31 943.5
4000 0.378 35,5 1227.2
4500 0.426 40 1547.8
5000 0.474 44.5 1905.1
5500 0.522 49.1 2298.9
6000 0.571 53.6 2729.3

47
 APPENDIX A. FAN CHARACTERISTICS

Figure A.1. Flow rate variation with rotor speed.

48
Appendix B

Rotor eddy current losses and magnet

losses

Table B.1 lists FEM simulation results of the rotor eddy current losses and magnet
losses with different current angles (β). The magnet losses are obtained from the
"active power" in FLUX. The magnitude of the stator current (Is ) is 200 A and the
rotor speed (ω) is 3000 rpm.

The rotor iron is divided into several regions shown in Fig B.1.

Rotor iron_neg_sur

_d
eg
_n
ir on
tor
Ro

_p
eg
_n
PM id
_m
eg
nn
r rio
R oto
Rotor iron_pos_sur

_q
_c eg
eg _n
_n ir on
PM tor
Ro
q
s_
po
n_
ro
ri

d
o

mi
ot
R

s_
po
n_

_p
iro
_c

os
otr
os

_d
_p
_p

Ro

os
PM
PM

_p
on
ir
tor
Ro

Figure B.1. Rotor regions.

49
APPENDIX B. ROTOR EDDY CURRENT LOSSES AND MAGNET LOSSES

Table B.1. Rotor eddy current and magnet losses, Is = 200 A, ω = 3000 rpm.

Rotor iron eddy current losses [W ]

regions noload beta=126 beta=170
neg q 1.42 14.04 30.18
neg mid 7.65 21.25 28.82
neg d 14.58 35.08 17.88
neg sur 25.25 136.33 42.39
pos q 1.45 7.66 25.47
pos mid 6.53 25.34 35.89
. pos d 14.19 63.52 28.07
pos sur 24.5 146.14 36.3
Total 95.57 449.36 245
Magnets active power [W ]
P M neg, p 1.09 6.58 1.88
P M pos p 1.08 6.31 1.98
P M neg c 5.01 24.36 4.08
P M pos c 5.01 5.15 3.75
Total 12.19 42.4 11.69

50
Appendix C

Calculation of thermal resistances

C.1 Rotor dimensions

The geometrical parameters used to calculate the thermal resistances of the rotor
are shown in Fig C.1 and Table C.1.

H77 Hself_p Hpsl_c

Wpsl_c

W78

H78
Hpsl_p

Wpm_c
Wpsl_p
Hc

Wpm_p

H88
Wp

Hp
Hslgap

Ri Hpm_c Wcsl_c
α_pm_p
Hpb1
Ro Hpb2
Wpb2 Hcsl_c Wpb1

Figure C.1. Dimensions of the rotor (half pole).

51
 APPENDIX C. CALCULATION OF THERMAL RESISTANCES

Table C.1. Dimensions of the rotor (half pole).

Dimensions Value [mm] Dimensions Value [mm]

Permanent magnets
Hpm p – Wpm p –
Hpm c – Wpm c –
Magnet slots
Wpsl c – Wsl c –
Hpsl c – Hcsl c –
Wpsl p – Hslgap –
Hpsl p – Hself –
Wcsl c –
Rotor iron
Wp – Ri –
Hp – Ro –
Hc – H88 –
Hpb1 – H77 –
Hpb2 – H78 –
Wpb1 – W78 –
Wpb2 – H37 –
αpm p –

C.2 Thermal resistances

Thermal resistances of magnets:
central magnets
Wpm c
Rpm c rad = (C.1)
2λpm L Hpm c
1
Rpm c rad m = − Rpm c rad (C.2)
3
Hpm c
Rpm c tg = (C.3)
2λpm L Wpm c
1
Rpm c tg m = − Rpm c tg (C.4)
3
peripheral magnets
Wpm p
Rpm p rad = (C.5)
2λpm L Hpm p

52
C.2. THERMAL RESISTANCES

p2
q_
t_
ro
R

ad
P

c_r
sl _
Rp
N1

p1
q_
t_
ro
R

ad
c _r
m_
Rp
P

p
a d_

d_
mi
c _r
P

ot _
N3

m_

Rr
Rr

Rp
ot _
N2 q_
m

m
m

d_
g_

mi

d
c _t

ra
ot_

p_
m_

l_
Rr

ps
Rp
Rp

R
g
m_

c _t
c_t
P

sl _
g
P
Rp
c
q_
t_

N5
ro
R

Rpm_p_rad
N4

c
g_
_t
_p
pm
Rpm_p_rad_c

R
Rp
m_
c_r
ad Rpm_p_tg
c
d_
mi

Rpsl_p_tg

p
d_
ot _

N10

ot _
Rr

Rr
ad

N6
_r
_p
pm
R

Rrot_sh
P

c1
N9 N7

d_
ot _
Rr
Rcsl_c_tg Rcsl_c_tg N8 Rcsl_c_tg Rcsl_c_tg Rrot_d_c2
Rrot_d_c4 Rrot_d_c4
Rrot_d_c3 Rrot_d_c3 Rrot_d_c3 Rrot_d_c3

Figure C.2. Thermal circuit of the rotor (half pole)

1
Rpm p rad m = − Rpm p rad (C.6)
3
Hpm p
Rpm p tg = (C.7)
2λpm L Wpm p
1
Rpm p tg m = − Rpm p tg (C.8)
3
Thermal resistances of the magnet slots:
Wpsl c
Rpsl c rad = (C.9)
λsl L Hpsl c
Hsl gap
Rpsl c tg = (C.10)
λsl L Wpm c
Wpsl p
Rpsl p rad = (C.11)
λsl L Hpsl p

53
 APPENDIX C. CALCULATION OF THERMAL RESISTANCES

T_rot_surf

WM
WM
Pri_rot_surf TM1
1

Rpm_c_rad_p
Rpm_p_rad_p
Rrot_q_p R_rot_mid_p
TM5
TM3
Rrot_d_p
Ppm_c Ppm_p
Rpm_c_rad_m 3 Pri_mid Rpm_p_rad_m 5
Rrot_mid_m 4

Rpm_c_tg_c Rpm_p_tg_c
Pri_q Pri_d
2

Rrot_q_m Rpm_c_tg_q Rpm_c_tg_mid Rpm_p_tg_mid Rpm_p_tg_d 6

TM6
TM2 TM4

Rrot_q_c
Rrot_mid_c Rpm_p_rad_c Rrot_d_c
Rpm_c_rad_c

10
9 8 7
Rrot_cbri_m Rrot_cbri_c Rrot_cbri_p

TM10 TM9 TM8 TM7

Rsh

11
T
T_shaft

Figure C.3. Simplified thermal circuit of the rotor (half pole).

Hsl gap
Rpsl p tg = (C.12)
λsl L Wpm p

Hcsl c
Rcsl c tg = (C.13)
2λsl L Wcsl c sin(αpm p )
Thermal resistances of the rotor iron:

W78 /2
Rrot q c = (C.14)
λf er L (H88 + H78 )/2

W78 /2
Rrot q p1 = (C.15)
λf er L (H78 + H77 )/2

Rrot q c + Rrot q p1
Rrot q m = − (C.16)
2·3

54
C.2. THERMAL RESISTANCES

Wcsl c
Rrot q p2 = (C.17)
λf er LH77
(Wpm c /2 + Wpm p /2 + Wpsl,c + Wpsl p )/2
Rrot mid p = (C.18)
λf er L (Hc + Hself )
(Wpm c + Wpm p + Wcsl,c )/2
Rrot mid c = (C.19)
2λf er L (Hc + Hself )
Rrot mid c + Rrot mid p
Rrot mid m = − (C.20)
2·3
Wp
Rrot d p = (C.21)
2λf er L Hp
Rrot d c1 = Rrot d p (C.22)
Wp b1
Rrot d c2 = (C.23)
2λf er L Hp b1
Hcsl c
Rrot d c3 = (C.24)
2λf er L Hp b2
Wp b2
Rrot d c4 = (C.25)
2λf er L Hp b1
ln(Ro /Ri )
Rrot sh = 8 · (C.26)
2πLλf er
Serial and parallel connections:

Rrot q p = Rrot q p1 + Rrot q p2 (C.27)

Rpm c rad p = Rpm c rad + Rpsl c rad (C.28)

Rpm c tg mid = Rpm c tg + Rpsl c tg (C.29)
Rpm p rad p = Rpm p rad + Rpsl p rad (C.30)
Rpm p tg d = Rpm p tg + Rpsl p tg (C.31)
Rrot d c = Rrot d c1 + Rrot d c2 + Rcsl c tg ||Rrot d c3 (C.32)
Rrot cbri c = Rrot cbri p = Rrot d c4 + Rcsl c tg ||Rrot d c3 (C.33)
Rrot cbri m = Rcsl c tg ||Rrot d c3 (C.34)

55