Transient heat transfer analysis of housing and PMM using 3-D FE code

This paper proposes finite element (FE) numerical methodologies for the transient heat transfer analysis of highly integrated actuators for demanding aerospace applications. A FE surface heat source is developed which permits to independently simulate the thermal performance of the housing of the actuator. As a result, the complexity of the FE model is reduced significantly and the computational cost is minimized. The proposed technique is integrated into a three dimensional (3-D) FE package that employs preprocessors capable of producing highly parameterized cooling housings of arbitrary configurations. The specific 3-D FE code was used for the transient heat transfer analysis of a surface mounted permanent magnet motor (PMM) and its non-standardized and unsymmetrical cooling housing.