Improvements on permanent magnet synchronous motor by integrating heat pipes into windings for solar unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The successful market uptake of all-electric propulsion systems is closely related to the performance metrics of the electrical motor used within. In light of this, various road-maps have been set for the next two decades by aerospace and automotive bodies targeting ambitious future targets of the motor's power densities and efficiencies. In achieving motors with such step-improvement performance metrics, often the thermal management is a key challenge. In this paper, a cooling structure for a propulsion motor of solar unmanned aircraft is proposed which combines the stator windings with heat pipes, and which is shown to simultaneously improve the heat dissipation as well as the efficiency. This paper firstly determines the heat transfer characteristic of the heat pipe experimentally which is then used in the development of a bespoke thermal network model of the motor. The effects of the cooling structure on the motor's temperature rise, copper losses, torque, and efficiency are studied in detail. Finally, a prototype is developed and a test platform is built. The experimental results are consistent with the analytical result, verifying the correctness of the thermal network model and the benefits of the proposed mechanism. Compared to the motor without heat pipes, the temperature rise of the motor is reduced by 35%, while its efficiency is improved by a significant 1.5%.