Thermal Performance Modeling of Foil Conductor Concentrated Windings in Electric Machines

While the use of foil windings in transformers and air core inductors is not uncommon, their use in electric machines is just emerging. Although prototype realizations have been reported in the literature, a definitive analysis of their thermal performance is necessary to evaluate their potential for broad applications. This paper is devoted to presenting a comprehensive model for evaluating their thermal performance including loss modeling and temperature rise prediction in realistic designs. An overview of foil windings in electric machines and their advantages in improved fill factor is presented, along with experimental results that compare the AC losses and temperature distribution under identical steady-state operating conditions with a prototype round conductor coil and foil conductor coil. A lumped parameter thermal model that predicts the heat transfer behavior of the foil conductor coil is presented along with supporting experimental results.