Study of the thermal behavior of a synchronous motor with permanent magnets

The present study deals with the thermal behavior of an electric motor used in naval propulsion. Apermanent three-dimensional model based on a nodal approach was developed to predict the thermalbehavior of the machine in permanent state. The various heat transfer modes playing a role (mainlythe conduction, the convection and the mass transfer) are taken into account. The three dimensionaldeveloped model provides information (in terms of heat fluxes or temperatures) for the whole machine.A parametric study using this model is carried out aiming at two objectives. The first one consists in anevaluation of the influence of several factors on the temperature distribution. The second one aims atobtaining the inception of the thermal optimization and evaluating the more efficient cooling techniquesor solutions.