Modeling of forced convection heat transfer from the swing plate on an industrial robot

The swing plate on an industrial robot is a sort of disk-like component through which an amount of heat generated inside the robot axis 1 drivetrain will transfer to the ambient. This raises a need on modeling and design of the swing plate from a thermal perspective. However, it still remains questionable whether or not the thermal models developed for conventional type of rotating disks are applicable to the swing plate on a robot. This is because, not like the conventional spinning disk which rotates in a single direction continuously, the swing plate is driven back-and-forth in a bi-directional mode, called rotary reciprocation. This paper aims to understand the convection heat transfer properties of such a swing plate by conducting a set of experiments with a plate undergoing rotary reciprocation. A set of empirical models are then assessed by comparing against the experimental results, and eventually, the model that best describes forced convection of the swing plate is obtained.