TEFC induction motors thermal models: a parameter sensitivity analysis

With the increasing pressures on electric motor manufacturers to develop smaller and more efficient electric motors, there is a trend to carry out more thermal analysis in parallel with the traditional electromagnetic design. It has been found that attention to thermal design can be rewarded by major improvements in the overall performance. Thus, there is a requirement for accurate and reliable thermal analysis models that can be easily incorporated into motor design software. In this paper, emphasis is given to thermal sensitivity analysis of totally enclosed fan-cooled induction motors. In particular, thermal parameters are modified and their effects on the temperature rise shown. The results are useful for identifying the most important thermal parameters and enable robust designs to be developed that are insensitive to manufacturing tolerances. Index Terms--Induction motors, sensitivity analysis, thermal analysis, thermal models.