Surface Temperature Effect on Convective Heat Transfer Coefficients for Jet Impingement Cooling of Electric Machines With Automatic Transmission Fluid

In this study, the results of NREL’s continued work on experimental characterization of the thermal performance of free-surface jets of automatic transmission fluid impinged on a heated target surface are presented. The measured heat transfer coefficients are useful for understanding factors influencing performance of driveline fluid-based cooling systems for electric machines and help designers in developing high-performance, power-dense and reliable machines. Experiments were carried out for different fluid and target surface temperatures (50°C, 70°C, and 90°C for the fluid and 90°C, 100°C, 110°C, and 120°C for the target surface). Impinging jet velocities (0.5 m/s to 7.5 m/s) and the jet position on the target surface (center versus edge) were also varied. The impinging angle was kept at 90° relative to the target surface. It was found that higher target surface temperature increased heat transfer coefficients, namely, increasing surface temperature from 90°C to 120°C enhanced heat transfer coefficient values at higher impinged jet velocities (7.5 m/s) by up to 15%.