Marelli, an automotive parts manufacturer, designs electric motors for vehicles. As these motors run, they generate heat, and managing that heat is important since excess heat can affect motor performance. Marelli found that traditional cooling strategies and simulation tools did not fully capture how oil moves and transfers heat around parts like end shields and windings, especially when operating conditions change suddenly.
To study this, Marelli used Ansys FreeFlow, simulation software along with Ansys Mechanical, to model oil flow and heat transfer around components such as rotor cores and stator windings under real-world transient operating conditions. The simulations showed uneven cooling patterns and heat spikes during events like sudden acceleration, prompting Marelli to re-evaluate its cooling strategies and make related design adjustments, with simulated results closely matching physical test data. This reflects the growing role of simulation in supporting product development across the automotive sector.