The Performance Analysis and Motor Design of Electronic Water Pump Based on Pumplinx and Maxwell

Background: For the cooling system of the traditional new-type engine and new-energy vehicle, the water pump is the core component. If the design of the water pump is not reasonable, the engine will be overcooled or overheated, which will affect the efficiency of the engine. Therefore, it is significant to propose a design method of electronic water pump for automobiles based on active regulation. Objective: In this study, an electric water pump was designed according to the following working condition: n = 4200r/min Q = 90L/min, and H #8805: 4.4m. The flow, head, and efficiency and power of this electric water pump will be discussed. And a brushless, direct current motor for this pump was designed and analyzed. Methods: The flow details of the pump, such as pressure distribution, velocity distribution, and turbulent kinetic energy distribution were obtained by Pumplinx. The head, efficiency, and power of the pump were established by the analysis of the flow field of the pump. Then, based on the working conditions of the pump mentioned above, a brushless direct current motor for the pump was designed by Maxwell and its performance was also analyzed. Results: The experimental results showed that the maximum efficiency of the motor reached 72%, the maximum efficiency point of the motor was near the rated speed, and the efficiency of the motor at rated power was 66.31%. Conclusion: The results showed that the complex condition of running water inside the pump can be exactly stimulated by the computational fluid dynamics technique, especially about the pump head and its efficiency, which provided the theoretical foundation for the later application research and development of automotive electronic water pump.