Heat transfer characteristics in rotating coaxial cylinders with axial slits

Abstract

Toward the improvement of performance of the electric vehicle (EV), the design of the motor shape appropriate to heat removal is important. A typical EV motor is composed of a pair of coaxial cylinders with a fixed outer cylinder (stator) and a rotating inner cylinder (rotor). Some EV motors have axial slits on the stator wall. The present study numerically clarifies the physical mechanism of difference of Nusselt number between the case with slit and without slit. The heat transfer of the gap between the rotor and stator was obtained by the numerical calculation. A vortex structure observed by flow visualization experiment was reproduced in the numerical simulation, and velocity profiles showed good agreement with experimental data. The heat transfer rate for the case with slit in the high rotational speed was increased compared with that for the case without slit. Nusselt number was decomposed into the three terms which were the advection, turbulent transport and diffusion terms; the advection term of heat flux for the case with slit was increased compared with that for the case without slit because of the vortex structure. The Nusselt number on the slit surface was increased compared with that on the gap surface for the case with slit. It was implied that the difference of Nusselt number between the case with slit and without slit was caused by the presence of the vortex structure in the slit and the increase of heat flux for the case with slit.