An Experimental Study of Cooling Flow Distribution in a Model Alternator

One-fourth-scale model tests on three arrangements of the cooling flow system of a 30-mw (megawatt) alternator have revealed wide variations in the flow distribution, both in longitudinal and circumferential directions. A 5-compartment stator was found to be more satisfactory than a 3-compartment or singlecompartment arrangement, with regard to both total flow quantity and evenness of distribution. A fair approximation to the longitudinal distribution was obtained by neglecting friction losses, other than in the stator.