Thermal Model Calibration of a Squirrel-Cage Induction Machine

TL;DR

This paper presents a method for calibrating a thermal model of a squirrel-cage induction machine using measurement data, improving the accuracy of thermal simulations and aiding early design safety and efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces an inverse field problem approach to calibrate a 2D induction machine model, including material and 3D effect parameters, with validation on synthetic and real data.

Findings

Calibration improves thermal simulation accuracy.

Method effectively captures physical effects without explicit knowledge.

Validated on both academic and real-world models.

Abstract

Accurate and efficient thermal simulations of induction machines are indispensable for detecting thermal hot spots and hence avoiding potential material failure in an early design stage. A goal is the better utilization of the machines with reduced safety margins due to a better knowledge of the critical conditions. In this work, the parameters of a two-dimensional induction machine model are calibrated according to evidence from measurements, by solving an inverse field problem. The set of parameters comprise material parameters as well as parameters that model three-dimensional effects. This allows a consideration of physical effects without explicit knowledge of its quantities. First, the accuracy of the approach is studied using an academic example in combination with synthetic data. Afterwards, it is successfully applied to a realistic induction machine model.