THERMODYNAMICS AND FLUID MECHANICS GROUP 561 EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF A ROTATING COOLANT CIRCUIT WITH REFERENCE TO THE DESIGN OF ELECTRICAL MACHINE ROTORS

thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of a rotating coolant circuit which has relevance to the design of cooled rotors for electrical machines. Tests conducted with a fixed pressure drop across the entire rotor circuit demonstrate that increases in rotational speed can produce consequential increases in the temperature of the simulated winding. This is true for the case where the energy dissipation is constant. This paper presents the results of an investigation into the influence of rotation on the 1. INTROWCHON There are significant advantages, mainly of an economic nature, to be realised if electrical power is produced using turbine-driven generators which have a relatively large output per machine, say in excess of 500 MW. Broadly speaking, there are two main reasons for this. cost of a turbo-generator plant per unit power delivered is lowered if the total plant output is produced with a relatively small number of highl