Why is an effective cooling important?
The thermal behavior of an electric machine is an aspect often neglected in its design process. The machine is designed only using an electro-magnetic point of view. The design of the cooling system is often the last step and must adapt to all the electro-magnetic constraints.
Temperature levels have a direct impact on the lifespan of a machine insulation system. Each machine has an insulation class for its windings corresponding to an operating temperature. The lifespan of a machine is 20,000 hours at its operating temperature. A basic model to predict the lifespan of a machine is to divide it by 2 for each 10°C above the operating temperature