Thermo-Energetic Motor Optimisation

The thermo-elastic deformations of a machine tool can only be determined if the heat sources inducing them are known. In the electric drives of a machine tool, heating results from the losses that appear during the transformation of electric into mechanical energy. The objective of subproject C04 is to model the individual dissipation mechanisms and the heat fluxes responsible for them. To do this, calculation equations suitable for the mechanisms were created and adapted to the motor types used in the machine tools. The models generated this way were subsequently validated through measurements. Based on the physical interactions among the losses, the authors succeeded in engineering a method by which the dissipations can be actively controlled via motor control. The extent to which this dissipation control can be utilised in order to specifically adapt the heating of the drive for the required warming up of the machine tool is still to be clarified. For thermal modelling, unlike classical modelling, the main focus is not on the internal motor structure, but on heat transfers from the drives that are directed towards the machine tool and/or the environment.