Thermal Analysis of Direct-Drive Permanent Magnet Wind Generator using both Lumped Parameter Network and Finite Element Method

This paper presents a general technique to analyze thermal behavior of direct-drive permanent magnet (DDPM) wind generator. Both lumped parameter network (LPN) and finite element method (FEM) are used in this technique to predict the temperature distribution of a 2 MW DDPM wind generator. This technique is then validated after experimentation carried out on a 10 kW prototype equipped with thermal sensors, and some valuable conclusions are obtained.