Experimental Study of Rotating Pulsating Heat Pipe for In-wheel Motor

New energy city vehicles using wheel corner module (WCM) have become a research hotspot. To meet the cooling function of multi-motor, it is necessary to develop a solution with low cost, high reliability, good heat dissipation performance, and no attachment system. In this paper, the heat production characteristics and heat load of WCM motor are studied by establishing a simulation model. Then, a cooling scheme based on a three-dimensional rotating pulsating heat pipe (RPHP) is proposed, which relies on gravity and rotation to generate centrifugal force and airflow to enhance heat transfer. The test results show that the RPHP can still run normally even at 1 r/min. The heat transfer performance of RPHP is good at maximum heat load and maximum speed. The maximum temperature of the rotor thermal simulator under the real driving cycle NEDC and WLTC cycles is much lower than the demagnetization temperature of 180◦C. © 2024 Science Press. All rights reserved.