Improving Performance and Extending Lifetime of PMSMs via Advanced End-Winding Cooling

In the automotive field, high performance and high reliable electrical machines are required and an appropriate thermal management allows to fulfil such a demand. Thermal management is also crucial for enhancing the power density, while it can also be applied to preserve the winding insulation lifetime of the electrical motor. From this prospective, an advanced cooling method is presented, whose action focuses on the end-windings, since they are commonly identified as the machine hot-spot. The effectiveness of the proposed cooling method is experimentally proven and the benefits raising from its implementation are quantified in terms of both temperature reduction, as well as insulation lifetime extension. A permanent magnet synchronous machine, employing a conventional housing waterjacket is used as study-case.