Design of motor controller water cooling system for a Formula SAE electric racecar

Abstract

This thesis explores the design of a water cooled cold plate system for motor controller used in an FSAE Electric racecar. Models for pressure drop and rate of heat transfer along with the constuction of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are presented to predict the pressure drop and heat transfer rate. The goal is to provide a framework to design cold plates for motor controllers, along with any other components that generate heat, such as the vehicle battery. A test bench is constructed to validate the results of the models used. Preliminary results show that while such models are useful in understanding the fundamental relationships between different variables and the properties of the flow, it is difficult to construct a model that predicts pressure losses reliably using introductory material on thermodynamics and heat transfer.