Abstract
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%.