Thermal modeling of the cylindrical electromagnets in transient and steady-state modes

Abstract

Purpose An excessive increase in temperature will reduce the lifespan and even burn the coil. The variety of materials in the structure of the electromagnet along with its multi-layer winding creates a complex and heterogeneous thermal structure. There are very few researches that are completely focused on the thermal analysis of electromagnets. The purpose of this paper is to provide an accurate, yet fast and simple method for the thermal analysis of cylindrical electromagnets in both transient and steady-state modes. For this purpose, a thermal equivalent circuit (TEC) is presented based on the nodding approach. Design/methodology/approach The results of TEC analysis of cylindrical electromagnet, for two orthogonal and orthocyclic winding coil technologies, were compared with the results of the thermal simulation in COMSOL. The authors also built a laboratory model of the cylindrical electromagnet, similar to those analyzed and simulated, and measured the temperature in different parts of it. Findings The comparison of the results obtained from different methods for the thermal analysis of the cylindrical electromagnet indicates that the proposed TEC has an error of less than 2%. The simplicity and high accuracy of the results are the most important advantages of the proposed TEC. Originality/value Comparing the information and results related to winding schemes, indicates that the orthogonal winding has less cost and weight due to the shorter length of the wire used. On the other hand, orthocyclic winding generates lower temperature and has more lifting force, and is simpler to implement. Therefore, in practice, orthocyclic winding technology is usually used.