Project Description:

Adoption of electrified propulsion systems throughout the transportation sector holds promise to achieve a significant reduction in net carbon emissions by reducing the reliance on traditional carbon fuels. In the automotive sector, widespread adoption has been enabled by significant increases in the power density, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of the electric powertrain components. Air travel is responsible for a significant and growing portion of US energy use and associate greenhouse gas emissions. However, current electric machines do not have the requisite power density and efficiency to enable hybrid and/or fully electric aircraft having potential markets in urban air mobility, unmanned aerial vehicles, or select regional flights. This Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowship project will explore the development of electric machines that use novel materials, device architectures, and advanced thermal management techniques to achieve substantial increases in power density over the current state of the art. Particular emphasis will be placed on pursuing strategies for electro thermal co-optimization of the machine to extract power density benefits from integrated cooling of the machine windings.

Start Date:

As soon as post doc is available

Postdoc Qualifications:

Background in mechanical or electrical engineering with expertise in applying electrical or thermal transport modeling techniques to both fundamental and applied problems. Specific prior research expertise related to either electric machines or advanced thermal management systems is preferred.

Co-Advisors:

Justin A Weibel, jaweibel@purdue.edu Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Steven D. Pekarek, spekarek@purdue.edu Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer, III Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Bibliography:

• B. Graver et al. “CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018”, Working Paper 2019-16, International Council On Clean Transportation
• D. Deisenroth et al., “Thermal Management of High-Power Density Electric Motors for Electrification of Aviation and Beyond—a Review”, Energies 2019, 12(19), 3594; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12193594
• K.P. Drummond, D. Back, M.D. Sinanis, D.B. Janes, D. Peroulis, J.A. Weibel, S.V. Garimella, “Characterization of Hierarchical Manifold Microchannel Heat Sink Arrays under Simultaneous Background and Hotspot Heating Conditions,” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 126, Part A (2018) 1289–1301.
• D.Horvath, S. Pekarek, R. Howard "Analysis and Design of Electric Machines Using 2D Method of Moments," 2019 IEEE International Electric Machines & Drives Conference (IEMDC), San Diego, CA, USA, 2019, pp. 476-483.