Cooling of the electric propulsor of a

Formula Student vehicle

Pedro Miguel de Aguiar Fontes
pedro.aguiar.fontes@ist.utl.pt
Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
December 2016

Abstract

The Formula Student competition aims to build a vehicle by teams of students from universities in
several countries and there has been an increasingly number of teams changing their cars from
combustion to electric vehicles, which brings new challenges. The cooling system of these electric
vehicles is very important, because large amounts of heat are generated in a short time and have to
be dissipated. Thus, and because these are racing cars, it is necessary to dimension in an efficient
way the cooling circuit. The objective of this study is to find the best solution for the cooling of the FST
07e, the next car of Instituto Superior Técnico’s team, Project FST Novabase, in particular the cooling
of the four electric motors and the IGBTs of the inverters, which are the two major heat sources. In this
dissertation, it was found an ideal geometry for the motor cooling jacket, instead of having channels in
the stator cooling the motor by means of numerical simulation. This was studied using commercial
code COMSOL. Also, a geometry for the cooling plate of the inverters was found, analyzed by the
Ansys Fluent, never neglecting the mechanical and structural component. In the end, all the
information from the simulations was incorporated using Matlab Simulink software, where it’s possible
to see the effects on temperature and pressure losses of the connections of the various components
in the cooling circuit.

Keywords: Electric motor, IGBTs, numerical simulation, Formula Student vehicle, cooling of electrical
components

1. Introduction
The competition consists in static and
1.1. Formula Student Competition
dynamic events, within which are included the

The Formula Student competition started in cost, design, business plan, acceleration, skid-

1981 and is organized by SAE International. pad, the autocross and endurance. The

Every year, teams composed by university endurance is the most challenging in terms of

students from around the world are challenged reliability of the vehicle, since it implies the car

to create a prototype of a formula style vehicle to do twenty two kilometers on a track.

that is fully designed and built by them for
competition [1].

1
 The team of Formula Student from Instituto
Superior Técnico, the FST Project Novabase,
aims in the Formula Student competition to
build a new electric car model as reliable as
possible, easy to build and with a low weight
within the available budget, Figure 1.
Figure 1: FST 06e
1.2. Motivation
Electric cars are increasingly gaining a
greater influence in the global automotive
market, see Figure 2. This trend is also being
driven largely by the popularity of brands like
Tesla, Nissan, among others, which are selling
very well their product and innovating in this
sector in many ways, whether it is in the
charging, or in an increased autonomy, which
is known for being one of the weaknesses of
electric vehicles in comparison with
combustion vehicles.
Figure 2: Evolution and prediction of the selling market
of cars until 2040 [2]
At a competition level, the electric motors are
being increasingly used in a hybrid system
together with combustion engines, which is the
case of Formula 1 and 24 hours Le Mans, in
order to take advantage of the maximum
torque on the start, the extra power provided
by the electric motors and regenerative
braking.
The problem associated with heat dissipation
in these devices is that they often have very
low limits of maximum operating temperature,
so it is relevant to take into account these limits
when designing a motor or an inverter.
1.3. Electric motor
One of the team's goals is to have motors
with the maximum power allowed by regulation
(80 kW) and the highest possible ratio of
torque-weight in order to keep the car as light
and fast as possible.
DC motors are the easiest to control, but
have the lowest torque-to-weight ratio and are
less robust, so they are used by many
electrical teams competing for the first time
the with electric propulsion. Asynchronous motors
are more difficult to control, because it is
necessary to control the three-phase current.
In these motors, the rotor is short-circuited and
no permanent magnets are used to generate
the magnetic flux in the rotor. This makes
these motors robust, which is why this type of
motor is used by electric car makers like Tesla.
The permanent magnet synchronous motor
has a torque-to-weight ratio greater than the
previous one, but a higher cost, but its superior
performance turns it the choice of the majority
of the top teams in the electric Formula
Student [3].
2
 The electric motor under study in this thesis 1.4. Inverters
corresponds to the prototype being developed
The inverters are responsible for converting
by the team. With the data of electromagnetic
the direct current from the battery accumulator
simulations previously carried out is possible to
box to the alternating three-phase current used
see where are the heat sources, which
by the motors.
essentially comprise the magnets and the
copper windings, and the best way to remove The IGBTs, Figure 4, are switches that allow,
this heat from inside the motor, either through or not, the current flow towards the motor. In
external cooling by a housing placed outside this process may occur high heat losses in a
the motor, either through internal cooling very small amount of time. If very high
through channels constructed inside the stator. temperatures are reached, it may cause a drop
in power processing supplied to the motor, or
The motor is constituted by a stator and a
even destroy the device.
rotor made of soft iron, Figure 3. There is an
air gap between the previous two, and the
windings are made of copper. The magnets
are made of a magnetic material called
neodymium, which has a thermal limit, that
when reached begin to lose their
electromagnetic properties and its performance
deteriorates. In the case of the magnets that Figure 4: IGBT

are going to be used the temperature should 1.5. Cooling fluids

be kept below 120°C during the race situation.
For a given liquid to be used as coolant it has
The shaft is made of stainless steel.
to be, in general, a good thermal conductor
Stator
and to have a high specific heat, low viscosity
Winding and high boiling point at atmospheric pressure,
if a one phase system is considered, like the
Air gap
one studied in this thesis. See Table 1.

Rotor
In certain applications, it is used a dielectric

Magnets
fluid in opposition to a traditional fluid, because
the risks in case of failure in the cooling circuit
Shaft
are too large, or critical, since in that case the

Yoke
fluid would be in direct contact with the
electrical component.
Figure 3: Motor components

3
 Table 1: Cooling fluids properties There were performed simulations to
evaluate three-dimensional flow and the motor
𝒌 𝒄𝒑
ρ heat transfer. The two-dimensional simulations
Fluid [𝑾/ [𝒌𝑱/ 𝝂 [𝒎𝟐 /𝒔]
[𝒌𝒈/𝒎𝟑 ] were only performed to assess the impact in
𝒎𝑲] 𝒌𝒈𝑲]
two dimensions of the cooling channels in the
Air 0.026 1.006 1.117 1.57E-5 stator in the electromagnetic properties. The
EGW 50/50 0.370 3.000 1088 7.81E-6 steady state was used in this work. For that
Motor oil 0.147 1.796 899 4.28E-3 case it was studied a situation in which the

Paratherm motor operates at its rated power (maximum

0.153 1.925 778
LR
Water 0.560 4.217 1000
1.6. State of the art
Most of the technology that is used in electric
cars of the Formula Student competition is also
used in road vehicles and even in electric
racing cars, as is the case of Formula E,
although on a smaller scale.
The electric motors are all, except for a team
of Formula Student cooled through a housing
surrounding the motor with water passing
inside it.
The inverters are generically cooled by a
cooling plate, since this component is inside
the vehicles, which practically excludes the
possibility of using air as the coolant.
Most of the electric teams choose a cooling
system with two radiators with geometry in the
majority of the cases identical on both sides of
the vehicle.
2. Numerical model of the motor
2.1. Physical conditions
The simulations were performed in the
commercial code COMSOL Multiphysics and
geometry built in Solidworks.
3.43E-6 power), and the inverters operate at a
frequency of 400 Hz. The boundary conditions
1.78E-6
imposed can be summarized to a condition of
mass flow at the inlet, a pressure condition at
the outlet, wall boundary condition, imposed
heat flux and heat generation.
2.2. Power dissipated
From electromagnetic simulations the power
dissipated by the windings was found to be a
value of 2200 W spread by the twenty four
slots of the motor. In the rotor are dissipated
20.6 W and in the stator was decided to divide
the values by the teeth and the outer ring of
the stator, resulting in 27.5 W and 34 W,
respectively, divided by the total area of each.
2.3. Model simplifications
The design of the shaft has been simplified
by adopting the maximum possible linear
surfaces. The copper windings are considered,
but only their length between the tops of the
stator/rotor and in a solid way. The adhesive
layers existing between the magnets and the
rotor are not represented in the simulations in
three dimensions, due to their small size. In the
simulation it was considered that the rotor is
stopped, which implies that also the air in the
air gap is at rest. The geometry of the
entrances and exits of water has been as well
simplified.

4
 2.4. Verification 3.3. Verification

The mesh used in the simulations is the A mesh of about four million elements, for
result of the mesh convergence process and the same reasons described in the motors
consists of about four million elements, simulations, was used.
because it is the one that at the same time has
4. Simulink model
a low discretization error, a level of residues
below the convergence criteria adopted and The Simulink model, a Matlab tool, allows to
simulations have an acceptable duration time in a simple way to join the thermal and fluid
for this type of simulation. flow information that comes from simulations
and understand the influence of the
3. Numerical model of the inverters
combination of the several components in the
3.1. Physical conditions car's cooling circuit. The model can be seen in
Figure 5.
The simulations were performed in Ansys
Fluent, the geometry was discretized in ICEM
and geometry built in Solidworks.

The simulations for the inverters’ cooling

plate were made in three dimensions. The
boundary conditions applied to the model were
a mass flow rate at the inlet. At the outlet is
applied a pressure condition and in the walls
there is a non-slip condition. The thermal
boundary conditions are summarized to a heat
source condition imposed on the surfaces that
represent the heat sources, which are the
IGBTs with a value 500 W each. Outside the
plate it is considered that there is no Figure 5: Simulink model

convection, since it is inside the inverters’ box.
3.2. Model simplifications
The component will have, in its final state,
holes that will allow the support of various
components of the inverters, which are not
represented in the simulations, since they
would only increase the complexity of the
study. The final component will be composed
of two parts, but it was considered in the
simulations to be only one, in order to facilitate
the construction of the mesh.
The data for the pump equations were
obtained from information provided by the
pump supplier. As for the case of the radiator,
these equations are the result of calculations
based on ε-NTU method for thin-plate heat
exchangers design, such as that intended to
be used in the next car. These calculations use
an area, overall coefficient of heat transfer and
a defined flow for the fluids obtained from
calculations conducted using the reference [4].

5
 5. Results  Same inlet temperature of the coolant
5.1. Motor fluid (30º 𝐶)
 Same coolant fluid (water for all the
For the simulations, that will be presented
cases)
here there were used the same general
 Same external diameter of the motor
conditions in order to be able to do a
housing (equal to 120 mm, after it is
comparison. These conditions are:
found that this is the best option)
 Same mass flow rate for the coolant  Same length of the motor housing
fluid (0.1 𝑘𝑔/𝑠) (equal to 105 mm)
 Same convection coefficient in the
The results of the simulations are presented
exterior (10 𝑊/ 𝑚2 𝐾)
in Table 2.
 Same ambient temperature (30º 𝐶)

Table 2: Results of the simulations of the motor

Mass flow 𝒉 [𝑾/ Max T Outlet fluid Pressure

Case Fluid
𝟐
rate [𝒌𝒈/𝒔] 𝒎 𝑲] motor [ºC] T [ºC] drop [Pa]

Without cooling - - 10 5079.21 - -

= - - 250 300.19 - -
Channels in the
Water 0.1 10 153.39 112.38 4.31
windings
= Water 0.2 10 133.21 79.46 12.33
= EGW 50 50 0.1 10 165.81 125.27 61.38
= Motor oil 0.1 10 181.18 135.38 297.56
Paratherm
= 0.1 10 182.50 140.78 29.39
LR
Channels in slot
Water 0.1 10 137.05 101.46 11.45
shape
Channels of 3 mm
Water 0.1 10 198.21 143.35 3.44
(Φ=45 mm)
Channels of 3 mm
Water 0.1 10 196.12 143.77 3.63
(Φ=44 mm)
Simple housing
Water 0.1 10 130.92 35.05 2230.03
(Φext=116 mm)
(Φext=118 mm) Water 0.1 10 135.88 35.10 1923.50
(Φext=120 mm) Water 0.1 10 135.50 35.08 1835.40
Housing with helix
Water 0.1 10 115.38 35.46 48295.94
(5 turns)
Housing with helix
Water 0.1 10 116.52 35.45 7632.83
(4 turns) – Al
= Water 0.1 0 116.71 35.46 7633.23
= Water 0.1 250 113.84 35.39 7635.16
= Water 0.1 1000 110.92 35.06 7633.93
PA2200 Water 0.1 10 116.62 35.47 7897.90

6
 AlSi10Mg Water 0.1 10 116.57 35.46 7717.83
Housing with
Water 0.05 10 120.94 40.87 875.05
chicane
= Water 0.1 10 116.30 35.43 3298.60
= Water 0.2 10 113.90 32.71 12600.91
= Water 0.4 10 112.68 31.36 49164.84
Housing with
Water 0.1 10 116.24 35.43 3344.39
chicane (angle=20º)
angle=22º Water 0.1 10 116.30 35.43 3298.60
angle=24º Water 0.1 10 116.35 35.43 3249.98

The solution to be adopted for the motor

cooling system is the installation of a motor
housing with internal channels in chicane
format as it is the solution with the lowest
pressure drop for the lowest maximum
temperature of the motor. The coolant fluid will
be water. The material to be used is the
polymer used in the simulations, because there
is no thermal benefit by using another material
and the polymer solution reduces the mass
735 grams, resulting in a gain of 0.5 seconds Figure 6: Results of the thermal and fluid simulations of
the motor
on the track, without harming the car
In order to provide data to the Simulink
performance.
model of the cooling circuit multiple simulations
The temperature profile and the flow lines of were performed for the case of the motor
water can be seen in Figure 6 for the housing housing with channels in the chicane format
with chicanes case. varying the coolant flow rate. The values were
approached by a trend line.

The equation to be used for the variation of

the temperature inside the motor housing is
given by the equation (1). It should be taken in
account that the water inlet temperature is
30°C in the simulations, which may lead to
slight deviations in the final result, if the water
inlet temperature is not that value:

∆ 𝑇 = 144.91𝑄 2 − 90.015𝑄 + 44.272 − 30 (1)

The equation for the pressure drop it is equal

to:
∆ 𝑝 = 298950𝑄 2 + 3432𝑄 − 40.352 (2)

7
 5.2. Inverters’ cooling plate The first case of the Table 3 had the best
results in terms of pressure drop, so it is
The Table 3 presents the results of some
studied in greater detail and the thermal and
shapes tested for the plate, studying only the
fluid simulations results are shown in Figure 7
flow part to conclude which case had the
and Table 4.
lowest pressure drop.

Table 3: Fluid results of the simulations in the inverters'

cooling plate

Pressure
Case
drop [Pa]
Entry/exit shape in v form. 5 fins 3816.80
Clear entry zone. 5 fins 4191.80
Fins with round shape and not
4268.40
equally spaced. 5 fins
Equal to the previous, but
4379.50
equally spaced
Equal to the first case. 3 fins 4269.20
Equal to the first case. Entry/exit
3874.70
improved to reduce recirculation
The fluid used in the simulations is water,
taking into account the results shown in
subchapter 5.1., with a flow rate of 0.2 𝑘𝑔/𝑠.
The ambient temperature of the plate is
considered to be 30ºC and the water enters Figure 7: Results of the thermal and fluid simulations of
the inverters’ cooling plate
the plate at a 30°C temperature also.

Table 4: Results of the simulations in the inverters' cooling plate

Mass flow rate Max T of water Max T of the Outlet water T Pressure drop
[𝒌𝒈/𝒔] [ºC] plate [ºC] [ºC] [Pa]
0.05 53.08 46.87 32.28 333.20
0.1 47.29 41.85 31.36 1097.80
0.2 43.31 38.10 30.72 3816.80
0.4 40.76 36.06 30.40 13614.80

The plate temperature reaches 38.10ºC, a The equation to be used for the temperature
value that is below 40°C, the value that AMK variation of the water in the inverters’ cooling
[5] suggests in their manual as the maximum plate is equal to:
value that their plate should reach, being
∆𝑇 = 26.323𝑄2 − 16.898𝑄 + 32.96 − 30 (3)
achieved in the area in contact with the IGBTs.
The remaining plate is at an average The pressure drop varies according to the
temperature of about 32°C. following equation:

∆𝑝 = 73740𝑄 2 + 4797.6𝑄 − 101.33 (4)

8
 The materials that can be used for the In terms of constraints it was took into
construction of the plate are limited in terms of consideration the fact that the inverters are the
quantity and availability. The only material most sensitive component in terms of
available is aluminum 2024-O, which is a very temperature limits and therefore they must be
suitable material to maximize heat transfer. located in the point right next to the radiators.
The pump will be located before the inverters.
5.3. Simulink cooling model
There were tested eleven different cases to
Besides the data from the equations (1) and
evaluate the best configuration for the cooling
(2) for the motors and the equations (3) and (4)
circuit. The case (l) was the chosen one and
for the inverters’ cooling plate, the values from
corresponds to the Figure 8 and Figure 9.
the project of the radiators, the pump and the
pressure drop of the circuit are an input to the
model built in Simulink for the cooling circuit of
the car.

A radiator with a height of 240 mm, 180 mm

wide and 50 mm thick was projected. Two
identical radiators, one in each side of the car,
will be used. The remaining parameters to the Figure 8: Scheme of the cooling circuit
model are the overall coefficient of heat
The results are presented in Table 5.
transfer, U, which is equal to 1359 𝑊/𝑚2 𝐾,
the value of the heat exchange area, A, is Table 5: Simulink model results

equal to 0.2892 𝑚2 , the mass flow rate of air is Circuit Head Pump Tubes
equal to 1 kg/s, taken from the average speed Case max T loss power length
of car, which is 15 m/s and a mass flow of [ºC] [mH2O] [W] [mm]
water, equal to 0.2 kg/s, because the radiators
(l) 53.02 2.94 13.89 6590
are in line with the pump and with inverters
according to what will be presented in this This option has in overall the lowest pressure
subchapter. drop with a relatively low maximum
temperature.
The 24 volts pump projected has a maximum
head loss of 8 mH2O and a maximum flow rate 6. Conclusion
of 0.283 𝑘𝑔/𝑠 (17 LPM), with a power of 34 W.
The analysis of the simulations performed to
The pressure loss in the pipe is calculated in the motors and the cooling plate of the
accordance with the internal diameter of the inverters allowed a comparison between
tubes, which is 0.13 m and the length of the different solutions to achieve a solution that
tubes may be seen in Table 5. The pressure had the best balance between temperature
drop of the connectors is calculated by reached by the water, maximum motor
estimating the number of these throughout the temperature and pressure drop, so that the
cooling circuit. thermal limits imposed on the beginning were
met.

9
 For the motor, the solution adopted was a
motor housing around the motor, with channels
in chicane format, made of a polymer and with
a flow rate of 0.1 𝑘𝑔/𝑠 of water, since it has
been confirmed that the motor needed cooling.
As for the inverters’ cooling plate, the solution
is going to be an aluminum plate with six
internal channels in U shape, with a water flow
rate of 0.2 𝑘𝑔/𝑠.
Figure 9: Cooling circuit
The housing around the motor is a solution,
Symbols list
by comparison with the channels in the stator
𝑘 Thermal conductivity [𝑊/𝑚 𝐾]
which has advantages in terms of the
maximum temperature reached, the ease of 𝑐𝑝 Specific heat [𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔 𝐾]
construction, greater robustness and a lower
ρ Volumetric mass density [𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ]
chance of failing due to problems in sealing the
coolant fluid. 𝜈 Kinematic viscosity [𝑚2 /𝑠]

ℎ Convection coefficient [𝑊/𝑚2 𝐾]

The internal channels do not present
advantages over the motor housing for the flow 𝑇 Temperature [ºC]
𝛷 Diameter [m]
rate under study, since the maximum
𝑝 Pressure [Pa]
temperature reached is higher than that
obtained for the case where a cooling jacket is
References
used. The fact of the coolant being closer to
the heat sources, the copper windings, would
[1] “http://www.fsaeonline.com/content/2017-
imply the construction of channels made of an
18%20FSAE%20Rules%20PRELIMINARY.
non electric conductive material, to guarantee
pdf,” [Online]. [Acedido em Setembro
there would be no direct contact between the
2016].
coolant and the windings. In this case, the fluid
[2] “http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/12
should preferably not be water to prevent
/20131215-xom.html,” [Online]. [Acedido
damage to the motor by short-circuits, as the
em Setembro 2016].
risk of leakage would increase substantially.
[3] L. H. Opsahl, Design and Testing of
The cooling plate studied is suitable to Voltage Source Inverter and Motor Control
dissipate the heat from the IGBTs, however it System for Electric Vehicle. Master thesis,
could be redesigned, if it was possible to NTNU, 2015.
change the arrangement of the IGBTs in the [4] S. Kakaç e H. Liu, Heat exchangers:
inverters, in order to accommodate them closer selection, rating and thermal design, CRC
to each other and thereby reducing the size Press, 1998.
and cooling plate mass. [5] AMK RACING KIT 4 wheel drive "Formula
Student Electric", 2015.

10