Flow of cooling air in an electric generator model - An experimental and numerical study

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed using two approaches. In one approach the inlet flow rate is specified from the experimental data, as is commonly done in the literature. In the other approach the flow rate is determined from the numerical simulation, independently of the experimental results, yielding predictions differing by 2-7% compared to the experimentally estimated values. The results of both approaches capture the experimental flow details to a high level of accuracy. Mesh sensitivity studies highlight the need of a specific resolution of the baffle edges.