Heat exchangers for liquid-free cooling of rotating shafts

Abstract

Heat reduces the performance of machine tool spindles. In particular, the heating of the shaft leads to numerous undesirable effects. Fluid-based shaft cooling systems exist but are expensive and energy-intensive. For this reason, a novel, liquid-free shaft cooling concept is researched. Heat is transferred from a rotating heat exchanger to a non-rotating and cooled structure through a narrow air gap. In this paper, the cooling potential of this concept is identified simulatively and experimentally by quantifying the heat transfer coefficients as well as the generated air friction. For the first time, a suitable simulation setup for the modelling of such heat exchangers is presented, providing a fundamental contribution to the design of liquid-free cooling systems.