Performance Analysis and Optimization of Liquid-Cooled and Flywheel-Type Eddy Current Retarder

Aiming at the heat fade of the continuous braking and low power density of traditional eddy current retarder (ECR) for heavy vehicles, a new liquid-cooled and flywheel-type eddy current retarder is proposed. The new ECR can keep a low working temperature because of the cooling type. It is assembled between the engine and the clutch, which can effectively improve the braking power density. The transient electromagnetic field of the ECR is solved by the finite-element method, and the braking torque characteristic curve is obtained. The thermal-fluid coupling field is analyzed using the computational fluid dynamics method. Finally, the structure parameters optimization of the rotor tooth is carried out. The braking torque increases by 14.8% and the weight of rotor tooth decreases by 9.5% after optimization. The test results show that the heat fade ratio of the new ECR braking torque is only 8.6%, but that of the traditional ECR is 46.7%.