The effect of grooves on the in-wheel motor cover of an electric scooter to increase the heat transfer process

Excessive heat will reduce the torque, power, and efficiency of the in-wheel motor, for example, the in-wheel motor used for an electric scooter. This study discusses an effort to reduce the temperature of the in-wheel motor of an electric scooter by making grooves on the cover surface. If the temperature of the in-wheel motor cover is low, it will reduce the temperature of the in-wheel motor as a whole. This research uses the finite element method: steady-state thermal analysis and transient thermal analysis. The software used is Ansys Workbench. Suppose a heat flux of 1000 W/m² is inside the in- wheel motor, the metal used as a cover is aluminum, 22°C is the starting temperature, and the ambient temperature is 28°C. The results showed that the grooves on the in-wheel motor cover caused the temperature to be reduced by 8.4%, and the total heat flux increased by 8.3% compared to the standard in-wheel motor cover (cover without modifications). In this study, the transient thermal analysis described the heat transfer process better than a steady-state thermal analysis.

I. Introduction

Energy consumption, especially energy from fossil is increasing rapidly every year [1]. The most consumed fossil fuel is petroleum, coal, and natural gas. One sector that consumes a lot of fossil fuel is the transportation sector. For example, the road transportation system in the United States consumes about one-fifth of the total energy consumption of the entire society [2]. The leading drive system for road transportation at this time is an internal combustion engine, either a spark ignition engine or a compression ignition engine. Every year, internal combustion engines burn 25% of the world’s fossil fuel reserves and emit 10% of greenhouse gases [3]. Plus, the efficiency of the internal combustion engine is very low [4].