세탁기용 유도모터의 냉각에 관한 수치적 연구

Numerical Study on the Cooling of Induction Motor In a Washing Machine

The numerical study was carried out to effectively cool Induction motor applied to a washing machine. The outer rotor made of steel periodically spins up and down. The stator consists of the thin layered iron plates and copper coil. The effective cooling system is necessary to solve the reliability problem caused by the electric losses at the coil and the iron plate. Because the heat transfer rate of the natural convection in partially open space is generally low, thus it is necessary to enhance the heat transfer using rotating perforated plate. The flow phenomena around the motor are very complex due to the motor geometry and the outer rotor motion. The mixed convection takes place due to the slow rotation speed. The three dimensional flow simulation was performed using rotating reference frame technique and Boussinesq approximation but the radiation effect was neglected. It was found that the angle and direction of the cooling blades play an important role in the stator temperature.