Thermal Simulation and Experimental Validation of a 1.5 kW Three-Phase Squirrel-Cage Induction Motor using Finite Element Analysis

Onwe Peter Daffin, Okoro Ogbonnaya Inya, Patrick Otubu Odu

Abstract


This study investigates the thermal behaviour of a 1.5 kW, three-phase squirrel-cage induction motor operating at rated load. The motor was modelled in ANSYS Motor-CAD using its geometry, winding arrangement, material properties, and rated operating conditions. The thermal model was used to determine the temperatures of different parts of the motor during operation. MATLAB was used to process and present the simulation results. The temperatures considered were those of the housing, stator back iron, rotor back iron, rotor bars, and stator winding. Temperature measurements were also taken from the physical motor at a supply voltage of 380 V and compared with the simulated results. The measured ambient, housing, stator back-iron, and rotor back-iron temperatures were 30.05°C, 52.2°C, 55.1°C, and 59.2°C, respectively. The corresponding simulated temperatures were 30.05°C, 47.29°C, 62.38°C, and 51.51°C. The percentage differences were 0%, 9.41%, 13.21%, and 12.99%, respectively. The simulation also gave an average rotor-bar temperature of 51.67°C and a winding temperature of 80.54°C. No experimental measurements were available for the rotor bars and winding. The results show that the thermal model gives a reasonable estimate of the temperature distribution of the motor at rated load, although some differences were observed between the measured and simulated temperatures. 


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References


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