METHOD OF GENERATING A THERMAL MODEL OF A SYSTEM COMPRISING AN ELECTRICAL MACHINE

A method of generating, from a first thermal model (11) describing the individual thermal behaviour of an electrical machine and a second thermal model (13) describing the individual thermal behaviour of a device, a composite thermal model (9) describing the thermal behaviour of a system comprising the electrical machine connected to the device, the method comprising: a) connecting at least one geometric entity (15,17,19) of one of the first thermal model (11) and the second thermal model (13) to a plurality of geometric entities (15, 17, 19) of the other one of the first thermal model (11) and the second thermal model (13), each connection comprising at least one of a heat source and a thermal impedance, wherein the first thermal model (11) and the second thermal model (13) connected to each other form an initial composite thermal model, b) comparing measured temperatures with corresponding estimated temperatures obtained from the initial composite thermal model, and in case an estimated temperature deviates with more than a threshold value from a measured temperature, c) adjusting at least one of a thermal impedance and a heat source between a pair of geometric entities connected in step a).