Thermal overload and insulation aging of short duty cycle, aerospace motors

Madonna, Vincenzo; Giangrande, Paolo; Lusuardi, Luca; Cavallini, Andrea; Gerada, Chris; Galea, Michael

Abstract

Electrical machines for transportation applications need to be highly reliable, particularly if they drive safety-critical systems. At the same time, another main requirement is represented by the significant torque density, especially for aerospace, where weight constraints are extremely stringent. For achieving high peak torque, an effective strategy consists in supplying the windings with a current greater than the rated value; thus, thermally overloading the machine for limited time periods. However, if the insulation is overheated, the machine lifetime is shortened and reliability issues can arise. This paper experimentally investigates the influence of short-time thermal overload on the insulation lifetime for low voltage, random wound electrical machines. The analysis is performed on round enamelled magnet wire coils, which are aged by accelerated thermal cycles. The obtained results are statistically processed through a two parameter Weibull distribution. According to the findings of the experimental data post processing, a lifetime prediction model is built. This model is employed for predicting the lifetime consumption of a motor embedded into an electromechanical actuator for aerospace application.

Citation

Madonna, V., Giangrande, P., Lusuardi, L., Cavallini, A., Gerada, C., & Galea, M. (2019). Thermal overload and insulation aging of short duty cycle, aerospace motors. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 67(4), 2618-2629. https://doi.org/10.1109/tie.2019.2914630

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 23, 2019
• Online Publication Date: May 8, 2019
• Publication Date: May 8, 2019
• Deposit Date: May 13, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 13, 2019
• Journal: IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
• Print ISSN: 0278-0046
• Electronic ISSN: 1557-9948
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 2618-2629
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/tie.2019.2914630
• Keywords: Insulation; Windings; Temperature measurement; Gears; Aging; Aerospace electronics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2042782
• Publisher URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8709991
• Additional Information: © 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
• Contract Date: May 13, 2019