Alexandria Engineering Journal (2018) 57, 1447–1457

H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Electromagnetic & thermal analysis of synchronous

generator with different rotor structures for aircraft
application
Deepak Arumugam a,*, Premalatha Logamani b, Santha Karuppiah a

a
Dept. of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Chennai, India
b
School of Electrical Engineering, VIT University, Chennai, India

Received 23 January 2017; revised 22 February 2017; accepted 4 March 2017

Available online 3 April 2017

KEYWORDS Abstract Alternator delivers power to a system which has high speed operations such as aircraft,
Light combat aircraft; marine industry, and automobile industries. So, it is necessary to evaluate the performance of this
High speed operation; alternator during high speed operations. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is an effective tool to ana-
Salient pole & claw pole lyze the performance of electrical machines with certain boundary conditions. In this paper, the
alternator; FEA analysis of the 5 KW alternator with two different rotor structures for high speed operation
Electromagnetic & thermal is presented. The transient electromagnetic FEA has been carried out which forms the basis for
analysis thermal modeling and thermal analysis of the alternator. Finally the overall electromagnetic and
thermal performance of a prototype alternator with different rotors is compared experimentally.
Ó 2017 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction are salient pole alternator and cylindrical pole alternator. Gen-
erally salient pole type generator is used for low and medium
Alternator supplies power to the emergency loads present in speed applications and it has large diameter, short axial length
the modern aircraft vehicles. Generally the voltage required with a large number of projecting poles. On the other hand,
for these vehicles ranges from 24 V to 240 V. Also, the speed cylindrical pole synchronous generator is used for high speed
of these vehicles varies from 7000 rpm to 24,000 rpm [1,8,9]. applications with large axial length and small diameter with
Even though these vehicles require DC power, this power is circular coil. The major requirement of the synchronous gener-
obtained from alternator through diode bridge rectifier, ator for high speed applications is high power density, com-
because this system has more efficiency and better performance pact design, less components, ability to withstand high
[14]. In general alternator has two main parts. Armature (sta- temperature, and high reliability with high efficiency [11].
tor) acts as the stationary part and the field (rotor) acts as the The power density of the machines is measured by the amount
rotating part. Mainly two types of alternators are used. They of mechanical power produced per unit volume. The compact
design value can be obtained by using different iterations con-
* Corresponding author. ducted during the design process.
E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Arumugam). If the thermal conductivity of the winding is increased, then
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria the cooling of the generator can be increased and additional
University. power is produced [18]. The modern computer based design
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2017.03.020
1110-0168 Ó 2017 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1448 D. Arumugam et al.

packages are used to perform the thermal analysis of electrical knowing well that the Mig-21s, Mig-23s, and a variety of other
machines along with electromagnetic analysis. The major aging Russian fighters composing a vast percentage of their air
advantage of these packages is to optimize the thermal perfor- power would soon grow obsolete, decided to produce a new
mance in terms of design, cost, weight, losses and efficiency [3]. fighter to replace the MiG-21 ‘‘Fishbeds” legacy. The new air-
The core material and insulation selection also play a vital role craft would be of indigenous design, and its development
in thermal analysis. The design flow diagram for modern elec- would fall under the care of India’s own Aeronautics Limited.
trical motors is given in [7]. In electrical machines thermal The aircraft that would spawn from the program was desig-
analysis can be conducted by two different approaches. They nated the Light Combat Aircraft and it would be one of the
are analytical and numerical analyses. In analytical method world’s lightest, yet most capable dedicated multi-role aircraft
the losses that occur in the machines, efficiency and tempera- of all times [12]. In LCA, 30–60 KVA generator provides elec-
ture can be calculated. Here heat rate and flow rate are trical power supply to all electrical loads. When this power sys-
obtained by calculating conduction, convection, radiation tem fails, the backup power supply supports and is called
resistances and machine losses such as core loss, copper loss integrated generator system (IGS) providing power supply to
and mechanical losses. This analysis provides efficient and fast emergency loads such as cabin lighting, food preparation, gun-
result but it cannot provide heat flow path and point out where shot and cockpit. This IGS consists of 3 electrical generators,
the maximum heat is produced in the machines. On the other namely permanent magnet synchronous generator, Brushless
hand, numerical analyses consume large time for simplification synchronous generator (also called Main exciter) and Syn-
but give heat flow rate very accurately for any complex regions chronous generator (also called main generator) being
[21–23,25]. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite mounted on single shaft which is driven by aircraft engine gear
Element Analysis (FEA) are the two major classifications of box. The basic structure of IGS is shown in Fig. 1. Moreover,
numerical analysis. In general CFD is suitable for analyzing the space constraint in an aircraft proscribes the IGS to be
liquid or flow system and FEA is suitable for solid structure. housed with any external cooling arrangements. The maximum
FEA is the best method to conduct electromagnetic and ther- diameter of the all three generators is limited up to 140 mm.
mal analyses of electrical machines. The history, different types Also aircraft engine rotating speed lies between 7000 rpm
of software tools, steps required for design, and advantages and 24,000 rpm [2]. So, it does not provide any external cool-
and disadvantages of FEA are given in [6]. The coupled elec- ing arrangements at this dimension for high speed operations.
tromagnetic and thermal analysis using multi-physics software Due to these reasons, much heat is produced in the main gen-
requires large computing time and also it gives less accurate erator. So it is necessary to perform electromagnetic and ther-
result. The electromagnetic and thermal interaction of claw mal analysis of the above generators to measure the
pole alternator using multi-physics software has been discussed performance of each generator for high speed operations.
in [20]. The combined lumped element and finite element Synchronous generator armature is the stationary part and
method is used for reliable power conversion calculations with field is the rotating part of the machine. Normally two types of
simple equivalent circuit model. Based on these methods anal- synchronous generators are used. They are salient pole syn-
ysis of permanent magnet synchronous generator at a speed of chronous generator and cylindrical pole synchronous genera-
15,000 rpm with 8 MW power rating has been carried out for tor. Generally salient pole type is used for low and medium
gas turbine applications in [5]. The FEA 3D analysis of inter speed applications and cylindrical pole synchronous generator
polar claw pole alternator with 42 V, 8 kW rating and 14 V, is used for high speed applications. The analytical design of the
5 kW rating has been given in [17]. The modeling of various generator is carried out using the following expressions.
electrical machines with combined electromagnetic and ther-
mal analysis has been presented for various applications in 3. Analytical design equations of synchronous generator
[10,26,19,16,24,15,13].
The above literature, however, does not deal with the com- The analytical design equations & values of the salient pole
bined electromagnetic and thermal analysis of alternator per- and claw pole alternator are presented in the following
taining to a specific dimension, high speed and high power sections.
rating. Hence this work proposes the FEA analysis of alterna-
tor with different rotor structures with constrained dimensions 3.1. Analytical design of salient pole alternator
for aircraft applications. The simulation analysis and proto-
type model of 5 KW alternator with salient and non-salient
poles are presented. The organization of the paper is as fol- The rms value of generated emf equation of the synchronous
lows: Section 2 deals with the description of aircraft power sys- generator is
tem structure. Thermal modeling of alternator with different Eph ¼ 4Kf Kd Kc Tf/ in volts ð1Þ
rotor structures is given in Section 3. The simulation results
of the alternator for various rotor topologies are given in Sec- When the machine electrical equations are transformed
tion 4. The experimental results are presented in Section 5. The from abc to dq reference frame model, the following equations
work is concluded in Section 6. are obtained.
In armature section voltage equation is
2. Description of aircraft power system dkd
Vd ¼  kq x  Ra id ð2Þ
dt
The Indian aircraft project is now called the Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA) in order to create an identity distinct from dkq
Vq ¼ þ kd x  Ra iq ð3Þ
the Light Weight Fighter concept. In the early 1980s, India, dt
Electromagnetic & thermal analysis of synchronous generator 1449

Figure 1 Basic structure of IGS system.

In field section voltage equation is Iph Tph Kw

Armature mmf per pole ATa ¼ 2:7 ð20Þ
p
dkfd
efd ¼ þ Rfd ifd ð4Þ
dt Tf qLmtf
Resistance of the field winding rf ¼ ð21Þ
dk1d af
0¼ þ R1d i1d ð5Þ
dt The theoretical design values are listed in Table 1 which are
dk1q used to create the model of the generator in simulation
0¼ þ R1q i1q ð6Þ software.
dt
In armature section flux linkage equation is
3.2. Analytical design equations of CPA
kd ¼ ðLad þ Ll Þid þ Lad ifd þ Lad i1d ð7Þ
Based on the salient pole parameter input, stator design is car-
kq ¼ ðLaq þ Ll Þiq þ Laq i1q ð8Þ
ried out using theoretical design equations and few of them are
In field section flux linkage equation is presented below. The design of claw pole rotor is carried out
based on the theoretical equations and it is verified using
kfd ¼ ðLad þ Lfd Þifd  Lad id þ Lad i1d ð9Þ
design software RMxprt. The design can be optimized by using
MATLAB program and more iteration with Newton Raphson
k1d ¼ ðLad þ L1d Þi1d  Lad id þ Lad ifd ð10Þ
algorithm. The major factor considered for getting optimized
k1q ¼ ðLaq þ L1q Þi1q  Laq iq ð11Þ design is efficiency, Temperature, different load conditions
(100%, 125% and 150% of full load) and losses. The opti-
KVA output Q ¼ 1:11Bav ACkw 103 v2a ðL=ns Þ ð12Þ mized design value can be achieved only at 59th iterations
and it is listed in the design table. The general design expres-
Eph sions are given below.
Turns per phase Tph ¼ ð13Þ KVA rating of a 3 phase synchronous machine is
4:44UfKw
KVA ¼ 1:1Kw1 Bavg qD2 L ns  103 ð22Þ
KVA  103
Current in each conductor Iz ¼ ð14Þ
3Eph where Kw1 is the winding factor for stator winding, Bavg the
specific magnetic loading, q the specific electric loading, D
U the diameter of stator bore and ns the synchronous speed in
Minimum width of the tooth WtðminÞ ¼ ð15Þ
1:8ðS=pÞWLi rps.
RMS value of the fundamental induced EMF per phase of
Stator Mean Diameter ðMDÞ claw pole machine is
¼ ðSlot root dia þ Slot tip diaÞ=2 ð16Þ E1 ¼ 4:44Kw1 U1 nPIf in volts ð23Þ

Pole Mean Diameter ðPMDÞ where Um is the fundamental flux passing through the core, n
¼ ðPole Tip Dia þ Pole Root DiaÞ=2 ð17Þ the speed in rps and If the field current in amps.

Q Stator Mean Diameter ðMDÞ

l0 Lstk r1 T2p
Self inductance Lg ¼ ð18Þ ¼ ðSlot root dia þ Slot tip diaÞ=2 ð24Þ
2P2p g0
Pole Mean Diameter ðPMDÞ
Lmts
The stator DC resistance per phase rdc ¼ qTph ð19Þ ¼ ðPole Tip Dia þ Pole Root DiaÞ=2 ð25Þ
as
1450 D. Arumugam et al.

Rotor copper loss Pcur ¼ Rf I2faverage ð32Þ

Table 1 Analytical design data of salient pole alternator.
Parameters Specification Analytical RMxprt The power factor of the CPA is cos u
output output sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2ffi
Rated power in W P 5000 5000 xLe I1
¼ 1 ð33Þ
Rated DC voltage in Vdc 28 28 V1
V
Rated current in A I 180 178.8 where V1 and I1 are the fundamental voltage and current, Le is
Stator outer diameter Dos 140 139.5 the average sub transient inductance and x is the angular fre-
in mm quency. The accuracy of the analytical design values can be
Rotor outer diameter Dor 91.86 91 checked into the RMxprt software. The comparison between
in mm analytical design values and RMxprt software output values
Length of the airgap Lg 0.37 0.37 is given in Table 2.
in mm
Speed in rpm N 9000 9000
Slot type – Trapezoidal Trapezoidal 4. Electromagnetic analysis
Number of slots S 24 24
Number of poles p 4 4 4.1. Analytical design
Pole arc/pole pitch s 0.78 0.7
Stacking factor Ks 0.95 0.95
The simulation analysis of the alternator was carried out using
Power factor cos u 0.88 0.88
Frequency in Hz f 292 292
FEA software’s MagNet and ThermNet. MagNet software is
Flux density in mWb/ B 2.7 2.72 used to evaluate electromagnetic analysis and ThermNet is
m2
Flux/pole kMax U 107.2 107
Stator copper loss in Pcu stator 346.2 360
W Table 2 Analytical design of CPA.
Rotor copper loss in Pcu rotor 162 161.26 Parameter Specification Analytical RMxprt
W value output
Stator core loss in W Piron stator 50.7 51.23
Rated power in W P 5000 5000
Friction & windage Pfw 200 200
Rated DC voltage in V Vdc 28 28
loss in W
Rated current in A I 180 178.8
Total losses in W Ptotal 758.9 772.59
Stator outer diameter in Dos 140 139.5
Efficiency in % g 86.82 86.66
mm
Rotor outer diameter in Dor 91.86 91
mm
Q Length of the airgap in Lg 0.37 0.37
l0 Lstk r1 T2p
Self-inductance Lg ¼ ð26Þ mm
2P2p g0 Speed in rpm N 9000 9000
0
Number of slots S 24 24
where g is the gap coefficient = Cg g and p = number of rotor Number of poles p 4 4
poles. Stacking factor Ks 0.95 0.95
m Winding factor Kw 0.966 0.965
Peripheral speed ¼ pdns ð27Þ Power factor cos u 0.88 0.88
S Frequency in Hz f 292 292
where d = rotor diameter in mm. Field excitation current If 10 10
The shape of the pole is determined by the pole pitch and it in A
Flux density in mWb/m2 B 3.3 3.28
is denoted by s,
Flux/pole in kMax U 107.2 107
pdm Number of turns in rotor Trph 160 160
s¼ ð28Þ coil/pole
p
Conductors used in – 18 * 4 & 18 * 4 &
2lstack Tph Bav stator in SWG 19 * 1 19 * 1
Flux per pole Up ¼ ð29Þ Conductors used in – 19 * 1 19 * 1
p
rotor in SWG
1 gKc Pole height in mm hp 23 23
Airgap magnetic reluctance Rg ¼ ð30Þ Width of the pole in mm Wp 6.3 6.9
l0 ap slstack
Number of parallel A 2 2
where Kc is Carters coefficient. paths
The losses occurring in claw pole machine are stator iron Stator copper loss in W Pcus 346.2 360
losses, stator copper losses, rotor copper losses, rotor claw har- Rotor copper loss in W Pcur 124 119.23
Stator core loss in W Pirons 50.7 51.23
monic losses, mechanical losses and diode rectifier losses (if
Friction & windage loss Pfw 186 178.5
diodes presented internally in CPA). The copper loss expres- in W
sions of the claw pole alternator are Total losses in W Ptotal 706.9 708.96
Stator copper loss Pcus ¼ 3R1 I21 ð31Þ Efficiency in % g 87.61 87.58
Electromagnetic & thermal analysis of synchronous generator 1451

used to find thermal performance of electrical machines. In this

analysis two different rotor structures are to be considered.
They are salient pole rotor and claw pole rotor. In salient pole
rotor rectangular type coil is used and circular type of coil is
used in claw pole rotor. The simulation model of salient pole
and claw pole structure is shown in Fig. 2.

4.2. Electromagnetic field analysis of SPA

The 2D electromagnetic analysis of salient pole generator was

carried out using MagNet software version 7. It was used to
find flux density plot, voltage and current. In this simulation
analysis, a 5 KW/28 V, 24 stator slot, 4 field pole salient pole
alternator were taken for analysis at a speed of 9000 rpm. In
the simulation circuit, the size of the mesh was 2 mm, the total
number of nodes was 17,966, the number of edges was 78,965,
and the number of faces was 36,489. The overall structure of
Figure 3 Simulation model of SPA.
the salient pole alternator obtained from simulation is shown
in Fig. 3. The stator and the rotor cores were made with
hyperco material and the winding was designed with copper
material.
The total steps fixed to solve the problem were 10. The
problem was solved with 2D transient with motion condition
and total time required to solve the problem was 6 h 33 min.
The flux linkage plot is shown in Fig. 4 and it is observed that
the flux distribution is uniform in the generator. The maximum
value of flux density is 2.733 mWb/m2. The voltage induced in
the armature winding was 27.5 V and the current flowing
through the armature winding was 176 A. Both voltage and
current waveform settled its peak value in each phase. It is
shown in Fig. 5.

4.3. Electromagnetic field analysis of CPA

Figure 4 Flux density plot of SPA.

In this section the simulation analysis of 5 KW/28 V, 4 pole

and 24 slot claw pole alternator with concentrated stator wind-
ing and cylindrical rotor winding is presented. In claw pole The total steps fixed to solve the problem were 10 and the
alternator field is distributed in all the 3 axes. So it is necessary total time taken to solve the problem was 32 h and 12 min.
to simulate claw pole alternator using 3D analysis. The prob- The stator and the rotor cores were made with hyperco mate-
lem formulation is based on vector potential with magneto rial and the winding was designed with copper material. The
dynamic computations. The size of each individual mesh was flux density plot of a CPA is shown in Fig. 7. The maximum
2 mm, the number of nodes was 57,317, the number of edges value of flux density obtained from the simulation was
was 178,965, and the number of faces was 121,727. The overall 3.28 mWb/m2. From Fig. 8, voltage in the armature winding
simulation model of CPA is shown in Fig. 6. is 28 V and the current through the armature winding is 180 A.

(a) Salient pole rotor (b) Claw pole rotor

Figure 2 Basic structure of salient pole and claw pole rotor.
1452 D. Arumugam et al.

Figure 5 Load voltage and current in SPA.

From the above electromagnetic field analysis, it is clear

that both salient pole and claw pole produce the same output
for the same dimensions, the number of slots, and the number
of poles. But the flux density value is slightly higher in the claw
pole alternator than in the salient pole alternator.

5. Thermal analysis

In this section the thermal modeling and thermal analysis of

the alternator with different rotor structures are presented.

5.1. Thermal modeling of the synchronous generator

Analytical method is more accurate and gives very fast result.

In analytical method, it is necessary to find the thermal equiv-
alent model of the alternator. The thermal modeling of alter-
nator is given in [2,4]. The general expressions used in the
thermal modeling of alternator are given below.
Figure 7 Flux density plot of CPA.

The conduction thermal resistance is given by

L
Rconduction ¼ ð34Þ
kA
where L is the path length in meters, A the path area in square
meters and K is the thermal conductivity of the material in °C.
The convection thermal resistance of the surface is
1
Rconvection ¼ ð35Þ
AhR
where A is the surface area in square meters.
hR is heat transfer coefficient in watt per square meter per
°C and it is given by
 4 
T1  T42
hR ¼ reF12 ð36Þ
ðT1  T2 Þ
where r = 5.669  108 W/(m2 K4), e is emissivity of the sur-
face, F1-2 is view factor for dissipating surface 1 to the absorb-
Figure 6 Simulation model of CPA. ing surface 2 and T1, T2 are temperatures of surfaces 1 and 2.
Electromagnetic & thermal analysis of synchronous generator 1453

Figure 8 Voltage and current at the load.

The radiation thermal heat resistance for a given surface is Total iron loss  0:85
Stator Copper Loss ¼
given by Number of stators lots
1
1 
Rradiation ¼ ð37Þ Number of axial planes  Number of plane nodes
AhC ð42Þ
where hC is the convection heat transfer coefficient in watt per In general copper loss is defined as
square meter °C.
The total heat flow rate in the given surface is PCu ¼ I2 R ð43Þ

DT Copper loss based on axial length and end windings is

Heat flow ¼ ð38Þ
R Total copper loss
Rotor Copper LossLength ¼
where DT is the surface temperature rise and R is the flow Number of rotor poles
resistance. Axial length of the segment
The surface temperature rise DT is given by 
Total length of coil around pole
Power dissipated in watts ð44Þ
DT ¼ ð39Þ
Volume flow rate  Density  Cp
Total copper loss
where Cp is the specific heat capacity in J/kg/°C. Rotor Copper Lossend winding ¼
Number of rotor poles
Thermal capacitance (C) is the important factor in thermal
Coil end turn length
network used to mention the heat source at each node. It is 
Total length of coil around pole
given by
ð45Þ
C ¼ qVCp ð40Þ
where q is the density in kg/m and V is the volume in m3.
3 Total copper loss
Stator Copper LossLength ¼
The above expressions are used to find heat flow rate of the Number of stators lots
alternator. But it is necessary to define losses associated with Axial length of the segment

the alternator, because losses are also an important factor Total core length
for generating heat in electrical machines. In general, the major ð46Þ
losses produced in the alternator are iron loss, copper loss,
mechanical loss, and stray losses. The general expressions for Stator Copper Lossend winding
the above mentioned losses are given below based on axial Total copper loss Coil end turn length
length and end windings. ¼  ð47Þ
Number of stator slots Total core length
The iron loss is defined as
Total stray losses are given by
  0:59
Total iron loss  0:15 50
Rotor Iron Loss ¼ Pstray ¼ Load fraction0:8  Machine rating 
Number of rotor poles f
1  1:5
 f
Number of axial planes  Number of plane nodes  ð48Þ
ð41Þ 50
1454 D. Arumugam et al.

Figure 9 Temperature and heat flow plot of SPA at 9000 rpm.

Temperature plot
25
Temperature plot
22.5
24.5

24
Temperature in Degrees

22
Temperature in Degrees
23.5

23
21.5
22.5

22
21
21.5

21
20.5
20.5

20 20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time in min Time in min

Figure 10 Temperature during transient condition in SPA. Figure 12 Temperature during transient condition in CPA

Figure 11 Temperature and heat flow of CPA at 9000 rpm.

Electromagnetic & thermal analysis of synchronous generator 1455

Figure 13 General experimental setup.

The boundary condition for this problem is convective heat

Claw Pole alternator with Diode transfer coefficient 75 W/m2 °C, emissivity 0.999 and sur-
Bridge rectifier Induction Motor rounded by thermal environment with a temperature of
120 °C. This solver takes 28.7 min to solve this problem. After
solving the problem, the temperature distribution in the gener-
ator is shown in Fig. 9 and the maximum temperature pro-
duced in the generator was 25.12 °C. From the figure it is
Temperature concluded that the maximum temperature generated at the sta-
Indictor tor core and rotor conductors. Also the heat flow plot is shown
in Fig. 9. During transient period the temperature keeps on
increasing and reaches nearly 25 °C when the machine runs
at 9000 rpm with full load condition. Temperature plot during
transient condition is shown in Fig. 10.

5.3. Thermal analysis of CPA

Figure 14 Prototype model of 5 KW salient pole alternator. The thermal analysis of the claw pole alternator was carried
out using ThermNet software. This generator construction
Three phase
and design values are the same as those of MagNet software
Induction Motor design. Additionally it has three boundary conditions. The
boundary condition assumed in this generator is convective
heat transfer coefficient is 75 W/m2 °C and heat surrounded
Gear box in the generator is 120 °C.
Claw pole The temperature developed in the generator and heat flow
Alternator
plot is shown in Fig. 11. In this figure the maximum tempera-
ture concentrated at rotor conductors and stator core. It is also
observed from the figure that the maximum heat produced in
DC output the generator is 22.14 °C. Similarly during transient period
the temperature value slightly increases at full load condition
and this value approximately equals to 22.3 °C. It is shown
in Fig. 12.
Figure 15 Prototype model of the 5 KW claw pole alternator. From the above thermal analysis using simulation software
it is noticed that the maximum heat generated at rotor coil and
stator core outer surface for both the cases. Similarly the heat
generated in claw pole rotor is less than salient pole rotor,
Based on the above expressions the total losses, losses in because claw pole rotor has large airgap and airflow.
rotor and stator and thermal resistances can be obtained
analytically. 6. Experimental validation

5.2. Thermal analysis of SPA

The general structure of the experimental setup for the alterna-
tor with different rotor is shown in Fig. 13. In this figure the
Generally thermal analysis of the machine helps to find total generator control unit is the combination of rectifier and
temperature produced in the machine and heat flow direction Cuk converter to provide constant DC current to the field
in the machine. In coupled magnetic field and thermal analysis, windings of both the alternators. Diode bridge rectifier circuit
the result of electromagnetic field analysis (i.e., losses) forms is connected inside the alternator.
the input for thermal analysis. The MagNet and ThermNet The prototype model of a 5 KW SPA with 24 slots and 4
are tightly integrated which facilitates the results from MagNet poles is shown in Fig. 14. In this figure both single phase induc-
to be readily adapted in ThermNet for thermal analysis. tion motor and SPA are coupled with pulley having a speed
1456 D. Arumugam et al.

Figure 16 Load voltage and current.

Figure 17 Temperature plot of CPA.

ratio of 1:6. Here both resistive load and lamp load are con- This indicator connected in various parts of the generators
nected across the generator. measures the temperature at various load conditions. The tem-
The prototype model of the 5 KW claw pole alternator was perature plot of SPA and CPA is shown in Fig. 17. The major
fabricated and tested in the laboratory. The snapshot of the problem in the temperature plot for SPA is that temperature
alternator is shown in Fig. 15. It consisted of 5 KW claw pole reaches more than 90 °C within few minutes for loaded condi-
alternator, induction motor acting as prime mover, gear box, tion and rated speed condition. This problem occurs in SPA
generator control unit and load bank. The performance of due to less airgap area and large current produced in small
the generator was tested under the speed of 2000–9000 rpm. dimension. Similarly it was seen that for same duration the
The output voltage and the current were measured using temperature of CPA was below 42 °C when the machine was
voltmeter and clamp meter. The voltage and the current wave- operating at maximum speed and load conditions. That is claw
forms from no-load to full load are shown in Fig. 16 for both pole rotor has large airgap compared to salient pole rotor.
generators and it is observed that the output voltage and the The performance comparison between salient pole and claw
current are approximately equal to 28 V and 180 A respec- pole is given in Table 3 based on results obtained from hard-
tively at full load condition during transient condition. The ware testing. From the table it can be seen that both the volt-
output voltage and the current could be maintained constant age and the current ratings are approximately equal for both
by using a Cuk converter with nonlinear controller. rotor structures. But the temperature value is high in salient
The temperature of the SPA and CPA was measured using pole alternator within short duration due to less airgap area
temperature indicator in stator core at the speed of 9000 rpm. and low air circulation inside the aircraft. On the other hand,
Electromagnetic & thermal analysis of synchronous generator 1457

[7] David Staton, Stephen Pickering, Desmond Lampard, Recent

Table 3 Performance comparison between SPA and CPA. Advancement in the Thermal Design of Electric Motors,
Parameter Salient pole Claw pole Emerging Technologies for Electric Motion Industry, Durham,
North Carolina, USA, 2001.
Power rating in KW 5 5
[8] Deepak Arumugam, Premalatha Logamani, Performance
Voltage in V 27.8 27.5
evaluation of brushless exciter for aircraft applications, Aust.
Current in A 178.5 179.2
J. Basic Appl. Sci. 8 (2015) 151–158.
Temperature in °C 98.7 41.2
[9] Deepak Arumugam, Premalatha Logamani, Coupled magnetic
field and thermal analysis of synchronous generator, Aust. J.
Basic Appl. Sci. 8 (2014) 124–131.
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