Honeywell International Inc.
CONFORMAL COOLING DEVICES FOR ROTATING GENERATOR ELEMENTS AND ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES FOR FABRICATING THE SAME

Abstract:

Electrical generators having one or more conformal support and cooling devices for use in supporting and cooling rotating elements of the generator are disclosed herein. An electrical generator includes a housing, a shaft disposed axially through the housing, a rotor assembly including a plurality of poles that are disposed within the housing and mounted on the shaft, a support wedge disposed between two of the plurality of poles. The conformal support and cooling device includes an internal cooling channel in a helical configuration or a V-shape configuration that extends from a first length-wise end of the support and cooling device to a second length-wise end of the support and cooling device. Additive manufacturing processes are employed to fabricate the conformal support and cooling device.