New FEM method based on arch-shaped elements to compute 3D thermal distribution of electrical machine

A novel FEM method using arch-shaped elements in cylindrical polar coordinates is proposed in This work. Examples are given to illustrate the validity and effectivity of this method for calculating the thermal distribution in steady-state heat conduction of electrical machine. The method has been applied to computing the thermal distribution of a large hydrogenerator. The computed results well agree with the engineering measurement.