Abstract
In order to deal with the heat dissipation of the integrated permanent magnet motor for a certain shaftless propeller, this paper designs an automatic water-circulation cooling system. The cooling system involves two annular grooves on the inner wall of the duct before and after the blades, the two grooves are connected with the air-gap between the motor stator and rotor to form a cooling passage in which cooling water flows from the rear of the propeller to the front. The performance analysis of the cooling system is a multi-physics problem involving electromagnetic field, flow field, and temperature field. This study combines the finite element method and the finite volume method to simulate and analyze the multi-field coupling problem of the cooling system. Tests of the shaftless propeller prototype are used to prove that the coupling simulation model is accurate and the cooling system is practical. Additionally, the verified simulation model is applied to analyzing the influence of several key factors, such as air-gap flow rate, pouring sealant thermal conductivity, and stator sheath material, on the heat dissipation of the integrated motor. The study made in this paper can provide a reference for developing the same kind of devices.
Highlights
The shaftless propeller is a new-type electric propulsion device that integrates the motor rotor with the propeller blades [1]
The motor of shaftless propeller is integrated with the duct and arranged outside the cabin, which results in a significant change in the working environment of the motor
Aiming at the heat dissipation of the shaftless propeller motor, this paper has fulfilled the design of the automatic water-circulation cooling system, this system relies on the rotation of propeller blades for power
Summary
The shaftless propeller is a new-type electric propulsion device that integrates the motor rotor with the propeller blades [1]. Xu et al [11] used a three-dimensional (3D) CFD method based on the hydromechanics and heat transfer theories to analyze the temperature distribution of the integrated motor, but they used the air-gap flow rate as the boundary condition, and could not consider the effects of the blade rotation on the air-gap flow. Liang et al used a 3D coupled-field finite element method (FEM) to analyze the temperature distribution of the shaftless propeller motor [16], [17] This method used the flow rate as the boundary condition of the air-gap inlet and proposed a multicomponent fluid method is to deal with the influence of rotating rotor upon the flow in the air-gap, but the effects of the rotating blades were ignored as well. Several key factors affecting the cooling performance of the shaftless propeller motor have been analyzed, and some useful suggestions have been put forward
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