Oil Spray Cooling on Rotating Machines

Project goal: To design and build a simplified version of the end turn region of an oil-cooled high-power-density aerospace generator and test for the most effective cooling configuration. The test fixture had to be built at full scale, be flexible enough for multiple configurations, and have a way to determine how well it was being cooled. The oil circulation system of the test fixture allows for the manipulation and measurement of the oil pressure, temperature and flow rate. It provides a constant source of oil to the nozzles that apply the cooling oil to the test item. Effective cooling of the end turn region is critical for proper generator performance. Oil pressure, temperature and flow rate were tested, as were nozzle type, configuration and quantity.Cooling effectiveness was determined using an infrared camera mounted within the system. The most effective configuration was determined using a design of experiments model.