Design and optimization of cooling system for aerospace bearing temperature measurement device based on orthogonal design

Abstract As a core component of an aero-engine, monitoring the temperature of an aerospace bearing is essential for assessing the bearing’s lifespan and performance. While existing research has primarily focused on temperature rise in bearings, there has been limited study on temperature measurement of aerospace bearings operating at high rotational speeds and the cooling and heat dissipation systems of the measurement devices. To address the issue of heat generation in the inner ring of aerospace bearings, this paper develops an effective passive wireless temperature monitoring device. The study targets the device’s internal circuit board and nickel-metal hydride battery pack, proposing a cooling and heat dissipation method that primarily utilizes air cooling, supplemented by aerospace-grade thermal insulation cotton to enhance heat transfer. To verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method, both experiments and simulations were conducted. First, various air-cooled heat dissipation modes were investigated to identify the optimal configuration. Additionally, an orthogonal analysis was employed to examine the effects of the number of air inlets, the number of air outlets, and the spacing between air inlets and outlets along the x -axis on the air cooling performance. The influence of each factor on the cooling effectiveness was also analyzed quantitatively. Experimental results demonstrate that the cooling system effectively dissipates heat from the measurement device. When the inner ring temperature of the aerospace bearing reaches 70 °C, the average temperature of the internal circuit board decreases by 18.76%, and the average temperature of the battery pack decreases by 16.57%. These findings provide a scientific basis and reference for the design of devices and thermal management systems in the field of aerospace bearing temperature monitoring.