Temperature calculation for tubular linear motor by the combination of thermal circuit and temperature field method considering the linear motion of air gap

The air gap of tubular linear motors moves linearly, causing heat transfer states of the motor to alternate repeatedly. Thus, the heat transfer coefficients of the mover inner surface and the stator outer surface vary constantly. In this paper, the combination model of the thermal circuit and temperature field is established to calculate the transient temperature rise of a tubular linear motor with short and movable primary. The equivalent thermal circuit model of the moving air gap and the temperature field models of the primary (also named as mover) and secondary (also named as stator) are established. The thermal boundary conditions and the correlations among them are analyzed. By this method, the complicated variation and distribution of the heat transfer coefficients are gained. Moreover, the transient temperature rise of the motor is calculated. This method takes advantage of the flexibility of the thermal circuit method and the accuracy of the temperature field method. The calculated and tested results of the prototype are compared and analyzed.