Engineering
Thermal Management Strategies for High-Performance Electric Motors
Quick fact
A high-performance electric motor can convert over 97% of electrical energy into mechanical work, yet the remaining few percent of loss can produce enough heat—concentrated in the copper windings—to melt the insulation and permanently destroy the motor within seconds if not properly managed.
Why this is interesting
You might think that making a motor more powerful is simply a matter of increasing the current through its coils. So why does a tiny 50-gram drone motor need more sophisticated cooling than a car engine?