IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO.
8, AUGUST 2014
Design of Cooling Systems Using Computational
Fluid Dynamics and Analytical Thermal Models
Unai SanAndres, Member, IEEE, Gaizka Almandoz, Member, IEEE,
Javier Poza, Member, IEEE, and Gaizka Ugalde, Member, IEEE
Abstract—In this paper, a detailed methodology for the de-
sign and characterization of cooling systems oriented to electrical
machines is presented. Different kinds of tools such as lumped-
parameter models and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) sim-
ulations are combined all together in order to achieve accurate
designs with reduced time consumptions. It is well known that
CFD simulations can be very arduous and they can take too much
time. In order to work out these drawbacks, in this work, several
procedures to analyze electrical machines by CFD simulations are
described in detail. For instance, it is described how to simulate
fans or how to design a cooling system using CFD simulations.
Finally, the proposed design methodology has been implemented
in a real case study, designing the air cooling system for a
permanent-magnet synchronous machine. Then, a prototype has
been built in order to validate the methodology and the different
design tools. The experimental results have a very good agreement
with the expected ones.
Index Terms—Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simula-
tions, cooling system characterization, cooling system design
methodology, fan simulation, heat transfer simulations, thermal
analytical models, thermal modeling.
N OMENCLATURE
h Heat transfer coefficient (in watts per square meter
kelvin).
P Static pressure (in pascals).
Q Fluid flow (in cubic meters per minute).
q Heat transfer rate (in watts per square meter).
v Air velocity (in meters per second).
T Temperature (in degrees Celsius).
αm Magnet flux density temperature coefficient (in percent
per degree Celsius).
βcu Copper resistance temperature coefficient (in percent per
degree Celsius).
I. I NTRODUCTION
T HERMAL analysis is a very important stage in the design
process of electrical machines as efficiency and cost are
becoming more relevant requirements in a wide range of appli-
cations [1]–[3]. As important as electromagnetic performances,
Manuscript received January 31, 2013; revised May 16, 2013 and August 17,
2013; accepted August 20, 2013. Date of publication October 23, 2013; date of
current version February 7, 2014.
The authors are with the University of Mondragón, 20500 Mondragón,
Spain (e-mail: usanandres@mondragon.edu; galmandoz@mondragon.edu;
jpoza@mondragon.edu; gugalde@mondragon.edu).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2013.2286081
0278-0046 © 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
4383
thermal behavior of electrical machines affects the efficiency
and the torque density. Losses reduce the transmitted energy
and increase the working temperature. Typically, thermal per-
formances have been improved, increasing the volume of the
machine, but it is well known that this solution may increase the
cost. In addition, in many applications such as traction system
drives, lighter motors are required and free space for electrical
motors is reduced, so increasing the volume of the electrical
machine is not allowed [4]–[7].
The thermal analysis exposed in this paper is focused on
permanent-magnet (PM) synchronous machines (PMSMs). In
this kind of motors, the working temperature of PMs is one
of the most important issues due to the high sensitivity of
magnets to the temperature. It is widely known that magnets
can lose partially their magnetic energy in an irreversible way
in case the working temperature rises over a critical value.
Even they can lose completely their magnetic energy in case
the working temperature rises over the Curie value. In addition,
as the working temperature increases, the torque constant de-
creases, leading to a higher current consumption. Also, winding
resistance increases proportionally to the temperature, leading
to more losses and, in consequence, a worse efficiency.
Regarding the thermal analysis and design of electrical ma-
chines, in the literature, there are mainly two different types
of tools: analytical models based on lumped-parameter net-
works [1]–[3], [8]–[22] and numerical simulation tools, also
divided into finite-element methods (FEMs) [7], [11], [16],
[23]–[26] and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) [27]–[32].
For instance, in [16], Boglietti et al. suggest the combination
of analytical models with CFD simulations for future thermal
analysis. They propose thermal networks based on lumped
parameters to carry out fast simulations and CFD simula-
tions to analyze complex regions and to obtain heat transfer
coefficients.
Analytical tools based on lumped-parameter models are
commonly used to represent the thermal behavior of electrical
machines [2], [3], [8]–[17]. There are some authors that propose
simplified models; meanwhile, there are others that develop
more complex and accurate models, increasing the number of
nodes [13]. Obviously, the higher the number of nodes is, the
higher the achieved accuracy is but the higher the computational
time is as well. Thus, a tradeoff between computational load
and accuracy is necessary. Several authors use a commercial
software so called Motor-CAD to perform rather complex
lumped-parameter thermal models [1], [16], [18]–[21]. Once
the model is calibrated, the most significant advantages of
using this software are the flexibility to modify the models and
4384 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO. 8, AUGUST 2014

the computational load compared to the numerical solutions.

It should be mentioned that the accuracy in the results can
be rather good in case more critical parameters such as heat
transfer coefficients or air spaces are properly set [8], [15], [16],
[18], [19], [22].
On the other hand, it is well known that, using numerical
simulations, higher precision in the results can be achieved. As
it was aforementioned, numerical simulations can be carried
out by FEM or CFD. FEM simulations can be very accurate
to compute temperature distributions inside solid bodies, but
there is the same uncertainty as in analytical models around
convection heat transfer coefficients [23]. Using CFD simula-
tions, fluid bodies can be modeled, and in this way, heat transfer
coefficients can be accurately computed.
FEMs are used in recent works to simulate the thermal behav-
ior introducing heat transfer coefficients empirically obtained
[7], [24]. Even some authors use FEM to cosimulate thermal
and electromagnetic domains. In this way, they can calculate
magnetic and resistive losses and obtain the temperature dis-
tribution inside the machine [11]. Some commercial software
packages for this purpose are Flux (Cedrat) [16], JMAG [11],
and Maxwell (ANSYS) [25], [26].
CFD analysis for electrical machines is presented in [16]
with an extended survey about lumped-parameter thermal mod-
els, FEM and CFD, to simulate thermal analysis. The authors Fig. 1. Flowchart of the proposed cooling system design procedure.
propose CFD simulations for internal flow analysis, external
between computational load and accuracy, which is very impor-
flow analysis, fan design, and supporting analysis like water
tant to achieve good designs in a short time with reduced cost.
jackets. However, a defined procedure to characterize fans
Finally, the proposed methodology is implemented in a real
cannot be found in the literature. Since 2001, more complex
case study designing the cooling system of an electrical ma-
CFD models have been developed to simulate the fluid flows
chine for elevator application. A 10-kW prototype has been
and heat transfer in electrical machines [27]–[32]. For instance,
built, and the proposed simulation tools have been experimen-
the airflow through stator and rotor channels of self-ventilated
tally validated.
motors is investigated in [31]. The software used in these works
[27]–[31] is Fluent (ANSYS), and STAR-CCM+ (CD-Adapco) is
used in [32]. However, it is difficult to find in the bibliography II. C OOLING S YSTEM D ESIGN P ROCEDURE
an explicit methodology to obtain the local convection heat The first stage in the proposed methodology depicted in
transfer coefficients in CFD, without modeling the complex Fig. 1 consists in the design of the cooling system. A detailed
whole machine in detail, and export them to the flexible an- procedure comprising four steps is exposed in this section. This
alytical models. The fan characteristic curve is obtained from procedure is described by the flowchart shown in Fig. 2. The
CFD simulations based on periodicities to make them lighter. obtained heat transfer coefficients in the cooling system design
The cooling system is characterized in a different simulation are implemented in the lumped-parameter thermal model. Thus,
(with different geometrical symmetries) in order to know the it is necessary to know the working point of the fan within the
pressure drop with airflow. Finally, CFD thermal simulations cooling system and the heat transfer at working conditions.
predict accurately the convective heat transfer coefficients from The fan and the rest of the cooling system are simulated
heat flux between solid and fluid which are necessary for FEM separately due to the size of the problem and due to the fact
and analytical simulations. In this way, local and simplified that there are different bodies in motion in the same problem.
simulations make the process lighter and faster. On the one hand, fans provide a fluid flow that decreases
In this paper, a methodology for thermal design and anal- as the pressure in opposition increases (see Fig. 4). This
ysis of electrical machines is presented. This method that is flow–pressure characteristic curve relates the fluid flow pro-
divided into three main stages combines both analytical and vided by the fan depending on the static pressure at its outlet.
CFD simulations (see Fig. 1). The first stage deals with the On the other hand, when a fluid flows through a fluid system,
design of cooling systems using CFD simulations. In this first a static pressure appears in opposition to the flow. The value
stage, convection heat transfer coefficients are obtained so of the static pressure increases as the fluid flow increases as
that they can be used in the next stage, in which the thermal well. This behavior is represented by the system flow–pressure
performances are obtained by analytical models. characteristic curve (see Fig. 8).
In addition, in the first stage, procedures to simulate fan The intersection point between these two characteristic
characteristics and to obtain system load curves are detailed. curves (fan curve versus system load curve) indicates the work-
The main goal of this methodology is to find a good tradeoff ing point of the fan inside the cooling system.
SANANDRES et al.: DESIGN OF COOLING SYSTEMS USING CFD AND ANALYTICAL THERMAL MODELS
Fig. 2. Detailed flowchart of the first stage of the cooling system design
methodology.
Once the working point is known, the fluid speed, the temper-
atures considering power loss dissipation, and the heat transfer
coefficients can be determined.
A. Fan Characterization
The characteristic curve of a fan describes the fluid flow
created by the fan as a function of the static pressure. Normally,
this curve is provided by the manufacturers, but actually, it is
not always done.
In case this characteristic curve is not known, then the fan
can be simulated by CFD in order to obtain its characteristic
curve. Simulations based on CFD are very useful to estimate the
characteristic curves in case 3-D geometries of fans are known.
It is important to remark that only the air region surrounding
blades is simulated, as shown in Fig. 3.
In addition, periodicities of the geometry are considered with
the aim of reducing the number of elements on the meshing
or even improving the accuracy because the same number of
elements can be distributed in a smaller domain, leading to a
higher resolution. Considering periodicities, the problem can
be reduced to a unique blade as it is shown in Fig. 3. In this
particular example, the fan consists of nine blades so that the
simulation domain can be reduced to a one-ninth part of the
overall geometry. The most suitable method found to mesh fan
geometries is based on tetrahedrons because of the curvature
4385
Fig. 3. Simulation domain consisting of the air surrounding the fan: (a) Overall
geometry and (b) one-ninth of the geometry considering periodicities.
of the blades. This kind of geometries is very difficult to mesh
with cubes. Even reducing the size of cube elements, it is hard
to obtain good-quality mesh because the resulting hexahedrons
have too high skewness quality factor. In addition, in fractional
models, the mesh has to be matched in the periodic faces, and
with ANSYS, it is only possible with tetrahedrons.
To make up CFD simulations, the k−ε Realizable model
with enhanced wall treatment has been used, and the solution
methods have been adjusted as second order.
Single reference frame motion is configured; the external
face of the domain is configured as static wall, whereas the body
fluid and the rest of the faces rotate at fan speed.
Regarding inlet and outlet regions, they are faces through
which the air gets in and out from the simulation domain. The
outlet is set as average static pressure 0 Pa, but the inlet can be
defined in two different ways:
1) static pressure: pressure–pressure simulation (P −P );
2) mass flow: flow–pressure simulation (Q−P ).
In P −P simulations, a static pressure is imposed in the inlet
surface so that a fluid flow is generated through the simulation
domain due to the static pressure difference between inlet and
outlet surfaces. In Q−P simulations, a fluid flow is imposed in
the inlet surface so that a static pressure is created between inlet
and outlet surfaces.
In Fig. 4, a comparison between the characteristic curves of a
commercial fan type NMB-MAT 2406KL-B50 provided by the
manufacturer and simulation results obtained in four different
ways using Fluent (ANSYS) is shown. Differences between
these four simulations are, on the one hand, the periodicities
(nine-blade full model or one-blade model with periodicities)
and, on the other hand, the inlet condition (pressure–pressure
P −P method or flow–pressure Q−P method).
As it can be seen, the results obtained applying the Q−P
method do not agree completely with the characteristic curve,
particularly at higher pressures, while the results obtained
applying the P −P method have a good agreement with the
characteristic curve.
Regarding simplified models considering periodicities, the
obtained results are similar to the ones obtained considering the
overall geometries. Thus, time and computational resources can
be reduced by using simplified models and periodicities.
4386 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO. 8, AUGUST 2014
Fig. 4. Fan characterization simulations of NMB-MAT 2406KL-B50 on CFD.
Fig. 5. Example of airflow through a blown-over cooling system simulated.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the one-blade model
considering periodicities has been validated with the P −P
method. The error in the area of interest (far away from no-
flow and no-load points) is smaller than the uncertainty of 15%
given by manufacturers.
B. System Characterization
Similar to the fan characterization, the rest of the cooling
system can be characterized with a curve showing the static
pressure generated by different values of fluid flowing through.
Here, again, only air regions within the cooling system are
modeled because there is no need to simulate solid bodies.
As it is done in the fan simulation, in the system, simulation
is also important to reduce as much as possible the analysis
domain considering periodicities and symmetries. In Fig. 5,
an example of a blown-over cooling system implemented in
an electrical machine is shown. In this case, one-half of the
overall geometry is implemented considering the symmetry. In
this way, the amount of elements is reduced, leading to less
heavy computational load, and a better resolution is achieved,
improving the mesh quality. In contrast to fan simulations,
hexahedron methods can be easier in case of more regular
shapes. Thus, a better quality mesh can be achieved with fewer
elements.
In this case, CFD simulations are also configured with the
k−ε Realizable model with enhanced wall treatment, and the
solution methods are adjusted as second order. The procedure
to obtain the characteristic curve consists of inserting as input
parameter a value of mass flow rate and calculating the static
pressure between the inlet and outlet of the domain. Simulating
many points with different flow rate values, typical curves as
the ones shown in Fig. 8 can be plotted.
C. Fluid Flow Working Point
Once the fan and the rest of the cooling system are char-
acterized, the working point can be determined. This point is
just the intersection point between the two curves. In Fig. 8,
the working points of a fan inside different cooling systems are
shown as example.
D. Heat Transfer Calculation
In the last step, the convection heat transfer coefficients are
computed with CFD to configure the lumped-parameter model.
For that purpose, the energy equation is activated and loss
dissipation is defined in the unique solid body to reproduce
power losses in the electrical machine. Radiation heat transfer
will be estimated in analytical models, so CFD is only used to
obtain accurately convective heat transfer.
The mesh of the solid body can be of lower quality to
decrease computational load because thermal conduction inside
solid bodies is simpler to solve than turbulence models in fluids.
The power generated is assigned in power per volume unit
(in watts per cubic meter), and it must be taken into account that
the value of the power corresponds to the proportional quantity
dissipated in the modeled faces that are in contact with the
fluid. For example, in Fig. 5, the power dissipated in the front
and end faces by natural convection is not included, because
their surrounding air is not modeled. The heat flux from the
external walls of the cooling system is neglected and it is not
simulated, the only heat exchange takes with airflow at ambient
temperature from the inlet to the outlet.
III. P RACTICAL I MPLEMENTATION OF THE M ETHOD
In this section, the practical implementation of the proposed
methodology is described. The rated power of the machine is
10 kW, and the estimated power losses are about 1 kW. The
machine has no housing, as it is shown in Fig. 12. As solution, a
blown-over cooling system is proposed. Details of the designed
cooling system are shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 12. As it can be
seen, four fans are situated at the top of the machine, and it is
covered by a casing in order to control the flow rate direction
over the motor surface (see Fig. 6).
The optimization parameter on the design process is the
cooling channel width, which is the distance between the motor
lamination surface and the new external casing.
SANANDRES et al.: DESIGN OF COOLING SYSTEMS USING CFD AND ANALYTICAL THERMAL MODELS
Fig. 6. (a) Proposed cooling system with external casing directing air over the
machine surface. (b) Fan ADDA AA1282HB-AT.
Fig. 7. (Gray and lined) Motor and three cooling systems with different
fan orientations simulated to analyze their influence. (a) Interior orientation.
(b) Horizontal orientation. (c) Exterior orientation.
A. Fan Characteristic Curve
The cooling system design starts with the fan selection. Four
fans from ADDA AA1282HB-AT (Fig. 6) connected in parallel
will provide the airflow over the active surface. In this case, the
characteristic curve of the fans is known, so the first stage in the
design process (see Fig. 2) is not performed. The selected fans
rotate at 2700 r/min when they are supplied at 50 Hz. According
to specifications, the maximum flow rate is 2.348 m3 / min and
the maximum pressure is 74 Pa. This characteristic curve is
shown in Fig. 8.
B. System Characterization
The proposed cooling system can be seen in Fig. 6. The
geometry is based on an axial symmetry, so only one-half of the
entire cooling system is modeled. The solid body (the electrical
machine) is drawn but it is not yet meshed, because, at this
stage, only the air is simulated without power losses.
During the design process, the channel width must be op-
timized in order to obtain the maximum heat transfer. The
heat transfer capacity is proportional to the air speed through
the channel. Thus, the objective is to maximize the air speed.
Four different channel widths have been analyzed: 4, 8, 12, and
16 mm. After choosing the optimum channel width, three dif-
ferent fan orientations have been evaluated: interior, horizontal,
and exterior orientations (see Fig. 7).
In the definition of boundary conditions, it is supposed that
two fans work in parallel exactly at the same point of their
characteristic curve. Thus, the total flow rate will be twice the
flow rate generated by only one fan.
4387
Fig. 8. Fan and system characteristic curves: ADDA AA1282HB-AT fan;
4-mm channel, 8-mm channel (interior-, horizontal-, and exterior-oriented
fans), 12-mm channel, and 16-mm channel.
TABLE I
A IR AVERAGE S PEED AND H EAT T RANSFER C OEFFICIENTS FOR
D IFFERENT C HANNEL W IDTHS
In Fig. 8, the characteristic flow–pressure curves obtained in
the simulations are shown. It has been proved by simulation that
a wider channel leads to more airflow, but for the same airflow,
the air speed is lower due to the more section of the channel, as
will be seen in Table I.
C. Working Point
Altogether, six models are simulated to obtain the charac-
teristic curve with mass-flow–pressure simulations on Fluent
(ANSYS). Results are represented with the fan characteristic
curve in Fig. 8 to obtain the working fluid flows at the intersec-
tion points of the curves.
Airflows of the cooling systems are divided by two in order
to obtain the equivalent airflow to only one fan. Furthermore, it
is shown that, at least in the 8-mm-wide channel, the orientation
of the fans does not change the characteristic curve.
D. Heat Transfer Calculation
In order to optimize the cooling system, heat transfer for each
channel width is calculated. The model simulated to obtain the
thermal behavior by CFD simulations is represented in Fig. 9;
the solid body that corresponds to the machine dissipating
power losses is added to the previous fluid model.
CFD thermal simulations provide accurately heat transfer
coefficients (h = q/ΔT ) for lumped-parameter models, from
the calculation of the heat flux between solid and fluid bodies.
Due to the effect of the forced cooling, natural convection is
neglected. Thus, air can be configured with constant density,
4388
Fig. 9. Mesh of one-half of the model (fluid and solid) and (a–e) faces to
obtain local heat transfer coefficients.
Fig. 10. Air temperature distribution in the 16-mm-width channel. (a) Air
temperature increasing from the inlet at the top to the outlet. (b) Detailed heat
transfer inside the cooling channel.
and no gravity effect is set in order to do the simulations
lighter. The energy equation is activated in the simulations,
the inlet air temperature is configured at 27 ◦ C, and 340 W of
power dissipation has been estimated to dissipate in half of the
machine through the faces represented in Fig. 9.
Fig. 10 shows the temperature distribution inside cooling
channels; the right side of the channel is in contact with the
motor, so it is hotter. This figure also shows that a wider channel
allows more airflow, but some air is wasted without transferring
heat from the machine.
As conclusion, Table I shows that the higher air speed inside
the cooling channels enhances the heat transfer. Moreover, in
this application, the bigger heat transfer coefficient corresponds
to the 8-mm channel, resulting in 8.4 m/s of average air speed
in the outlet of the channel.
The heat transfer coefficients obtained and the working
temperature are collected in Table II. These coefficients will
be introduced in lumped-parameter thermal models instead of
default natural convection coefficients. These coefficients will
be valid with the machine at approximately 96 ◦ C and the inlet
air temperature at 27 ◦ C.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO. 8, AUGUST 2014
TABLE II
H EAT T RANSFER C OEFFICIENTS AND AVERAGE T EMPERATURE ON
M ACHINE FACES W HEN D ISSIPATING 600 W IN A MBIENT
T EMPERATURE AT 27 ◦ C
Temperatures obtained in CFD inform that convective heat
transfer coefficients correspond to a difference of temperature
between solid and fluid of 70 ◦ C approximately, but they do not
represent the thermal behavior of the machine.
E. Lumped-Parameter Thermal Model
The analytical model for the PMSM has been configured
with the commercial software Motor-CAD. A detailed lumped-
parameter thermal network is configured by the software (see
Fig. 11), adjusting geometrical parameters and construction
materials. The stator and rotor shapes are approximately config-
ured with geometrical dimensions, and the number of slots and
poles. Also, the winding inside slots is set with conductor and
insulation quantity and characteristics. However, the database
to configure details is limited because of being an analytical
method. Motor-CAD has predefined force cooling methods like
through ventilation or blown over. However, none of them
satisfies this particular cooling system studied.
Thus, the way to configure the calculated heat transfer in
the analytical model is to replace the natural heat transfer
coefficient estimated by Motor-CAD on about 5 W/m2 /◦ C
with the area weighed value of the five faces, obtained in
Table II.
IV. E XPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF THE P ROPOSED
M ETHOD
The designed cooling system has been manufactured to
be validated experimentally. The electrical machine has been
tested thermally with and without cooling system in order to
evaluate the benefits of cooling the machine.
A. Fluid Flow Working Point
A casing with the four fans is collocated over the ma-
chine and adjusted to prevent air leakages [see the picture in
Fig. 12(b)]. CFD simulations summarized in Table III indicate
that the average air speed in cooling channels is 8.4 m/s, and the
experimental measurements point to 8 m/s. The measurements
have been made by the thermal anemometer TESTO 425.
The calculated air speed using CFD is practically equal
to the measured value so that the working points of the fan
and the cooling system have been accurately estimated in the
simulation and validated.
B. Thermal Tests
For validating analytical thermal models configured with
heat transfer coefficients obtained by CFD simulations, two
SANANDRES et al.: DESIGN OF COOLING SYSTEMS USING CFD AND ANALYTICAL THERMAL MODELS 4389

Fig. 11. Lumped-parameter model simulated in Motor-CAD.

Fig. 12. Thermal tests: Machine (a) without the cooling system (natural
convection) and (b) with the designed cooling system.

TABLE III
AVERAGE A IR V ELOCITY AT THE O UTLET OF THE C OOLING S YSTEM

thermal tests are carried out: without the cooling system (nat-
ural convection) and with the designed cooling system (see
Fig. 12). The analytical model validated with Motor-CAD is
the same, and the only difference to validate the methodology
is the external convection coefficient (5 W/(m2 · K) for natural
convection and 35 W/(m2 · K) with the cooling system).
Thermal tests are based on the procedure presented in [33];
temperatures within the machine are estimated from electrical
measurements instead of using thermocouples. The average
Fig. 13. Temperature rise: (a) Natural convection and (b) forced convection
winding temperature is estimated from the increased resis- thermal tests (continuous lines show results from the lumped-parameter model
tance considering the thermal coefficient of copper (βcu = simulations, and marks are temperature estimations after thermal tests).
0.393%/◦ C). Moreover, for magnets, it is estimated from the
decrease of the back electromotive force considering the ther- The first thermal test without the cooling system [Fig. 13(a)]
mal coefficient of magnets (αm ≈ −0.11%/◦ C). had to be aborted before 3 h to avoid overheating. Since
Test conditions are the same in both cases. The motor is the maximum working temperature in the F-class winding is
rotating at rated speed, and it is working at 83% of rated 155 ◦ C, for magnets, it is about 110 ◦ C to prevent
torque. This corresponds to the rms torque required by the final demagnetization.
application. In the fan-cooled test, after 7 h, temperature rise tends to
In Fig. 13, the simulation results obtained by the lumped- establish below 80 ◦ C. The average winding temperature is
parameter model are plotted with continuous lines; meanwhile, about 75 ◦ C, and the magnet temperature is about 58 ◦ C. It must
the experimental temperatures are plotted using single marks. be remarked that there could be some errors in the estimation
4390 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO. 8, AUGUST 2014
of this temperatures due to the accuracy of the laboratory
equipment and the uncertainty around the thermal coefficients.
This error is around ±3.5 ◦ C in both cases. Moreover, the
temperature rise measured with a thermocouple on the bottom
face of the motor was 71 ◦ C. This agrees also with the CFD
temperatures in Table II.
The analytical thermal model has been calibrated with
Motor-CAD as it is explained in [33]. First, without the cooling
system, natural convection is estimated by the software and the
main parameters as the base and the winding parameters are
configured. After that, the natural convection coefficient is set
with data from CFD simulations.
In Fig. 13, the simulation results and experimental measure-
ments are compared. The differences are smaller than the uncer-
tainty of the experimental measurements, so it can be concluded
that the simulation results have a very good agreement with the
experimental measurements. In this way, the simulation tools
involved in the proposed methodology are validated.
Regarding the thermal performance of the electrical machine,
implementing the cooling system, the working temperature is
considerably reduced, more than about 40 ◦ C. In addition, it can
be noticed that the working temperatures are rather low. Hence,
probably, it could be possible to optimize the cooling system,
reducing the quantity of fans or choosing less powerful fans in
order to decrease the cost. On the other hand, the rms torque
for the final application or the ambient admissible temperature
could be increased with the designed cooling system. This
optimization task is pointed as future prospect.
V. C ONCLUSION
In this paper, a detailed methodology for the design of
cooling systems oriented to electrical machines has been pre-
sented. In this methodology, different kinds of tools such as
lumped-parameter models and CFD simulations are combined
in order to achieve accurate designs with reduced computational
time.
First, a short review in different tools for thermal design and
analysis of electrical machines has been done. The flexibility
and low computational load make lumped-parameter thermal
models an interesting tool to be included in iterative design
processes. On the other hand, FEM thermal simulations can
provide more accuracy on temperature distribution inside solid
bodies but not in heat transfer computation between solids and
surrounding fluids. In addition, computational load of FEM
simulations is normally bigger. Thus, FEM simulations could
be useful to identify hotter areas inside a solid region (e.g.,
hotter point inside a slot) but probably not to simulate the over-
all machine. Finally, CFD tools are able to simulate fluid bodies,
obtaining flow–pressure characteristic curves and heat transfer
with fluids. Although computational load of CFD simulations
could be rather heavy, they can be very useful to complement
lumped-parameter models. For instance, using CFD simula-
tions, it is possible to compute heat transfer coefficients in local
areas, and after that, these coefficients could be included in
lumped-parameter models.
In the proposed methodology, CFD simulations are pre-
sented as complementary tools to lumped-parameter models.
A detailed procedure to design cooling systems using CFD is
presented. The main goal of this procedure is to reduce as much
as possible the computational time of CFD simulations, keeping
the accuracy in the results. It is explained in detail how to
obtain the characteristic curves of a fan, how to obtain the load
curve of the system, and also how to compute the heat transfer
coefficients in a cooling system, with the aim of reducing the
computational load.
Regarding fan simulations, different methods have been
evaluated, and the pressure–pressure (P −P ) method has been
finally selected as the most accurate. Applying this P −P proce-
dure, the typical flow–pressure characteristic curve of a real fan
has been obtained as an example. There are some differences in
comparison with the curve given by manufacturers particularly
in high- and low-pressure areas, far from the working area.
However, it is important to emphasize that these differences
are about the uncertainty of 15% defined by fan manufacturers,
so it can be stated that the obtained curves agree with the
real ones.
Regarding the proposed methodology, it has been imple-
mented in a real case study, in which the air cooling system
has been designed for an elevator electrical machine. Then,
a prototype has been built in order to validate the cooling
system design, the usefulness of the methodology, and the
accuracy of the different thermal analysis tools included in the
methodology.
CFD simulations have been validated. On the one hand, the
air speed inside cooling channels has been measured, and it
agrees with the simulation results (8.4 m/s versus 8 m/s). On the
other hand, the final thermal performance of the motor has been
as expected, so it could be stated that heat transfer coefficients
have been accurately computed.
The lumped-parameter model has been also validated. Two
different cases have been analyzed: with natural convection
and with air forced convection. In both cases, the simulation
results have a very good agreement with the experimental
measurements.
Finally, it could be stated that, applying the proposed
methodology, an efficient cooling system has been designed.
Implementing this air forced cooling system, the average tem-
peratures in windings and magnets are considerably reduced,
about more than 40 ◦ C. It has been demonstrated the usefulness
and the accuracy of the model because the cooling system per-
formances measured experimentally were as good as expected
in the design process.
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Unai SanAndres (M’11) was born in Bilbao, Spain,
in December 1986. He received the B.S. degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Mon-
dragón, Mondragón, Spain, in 2010, where he is
currently working toward the Ph.D. degree.
His current research interests include permanent-
magnet machine thermal design and optimization.
Gaizka Almandoz (M’04) was born in Arantza,
Spain, in March 1979. He received the B.S. and
Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Uni-
versity of Mondragón, Mondragón, Spain, in 2003
and 2008, respectively.
Since 2003, he has been with the Department
of Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, University
of Mondragón, where he is currently an Associate
Professor. His current research interests include elec-
trical machine design, modeling, and control. He has
participated in various research projects in the fields
of wind energy systems, lift drives, and railway traction.
Javier Poza (M’00) was born in Bergara, Spain, in
June 1975. He received the B.S. degree in electri-
cal engineering from the University of Mondragón,
Mondragón, Spain, in 1999 and the Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering from the Institut National
Polytechnique de Grenoble, Grenoble, France.
Since 2002, he has been with the Department
of Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, University
of Mondragón, where he is currently an Associate
Professor. His current research interests include elec-
trical machine design, modeling, and control. He has
participated in various research projects in the fields of wind energy systems,
lift drives, and railway traction.
Gaizka Ugalde (M’07) received the B.Eng. and
Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Uni-
versity of Mondragón, Mondragón, Spain, in 2006
and 2009, respectively.
Since 2009, he has been with the Department
of Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, University
of Mondragón, where he is currently an Asso-
ciate Professor. His current research interests in-
clude permanent-magnet machine design, modeling,
and control. He has participated in various research
projects in the fields of lift drives and railway
traction.