Cooling and Optimization in the Groove of the Outer Rotor Hub Motor

The external rotor hub motor adopts direct drive mode, no deceleration drive device, and has a compact structure. Its axial size is smaller than that of a deceleration-driven hub motor, which greatly reduces the weight of the vehicle and increases the cruising range of the vehicle. Because of the limited special working environment and performance requirements, the hub motor has a small internal space and a large heat generation, so it puts forward higher requirements for heat dissipation capacity. For the external rotor hub motor, a new type of in-tank watercooled structure of hub motor was proposed to improve its cooling effect and performance. Firstly, the threedimensional finite element model of the motor is established to analyze the characteristics of motor loss and temperature field distribution. Secondly, the cooling performance of different cooling structures in the tank was studied. Finally, the thermal network model and three-dimensional finite element analysis were used to optimize the water-cooled structure in the tank, and the power density of the motor was improved by improving the cooling performance under the condition of volume limitation of the hub motor. The results show that the cooling effect of the proposed water-cooled structure in the tank is significant under the condition of constant power density. Compared to natural ventilation, the maximum temperature was reduced by 33.13 degrees C and the cooling effect was increased by about 27.7%.