Patent ID: 7936103

Claim:
A method for assembling an electric machine, said method comprising: providing a rotor having a cavity formed therein, wherein at least one contoured recess is defined in a first portion of the cavity by a contoured wall, wherein the contoured portion of the cavity radially inward from a second portion of the cavity defined by a non-contoured wall extending from an outer surface of the rotor to the contoured wall; and inserting a wedge into the cavity, wherein the wedge includes an axial cooling channel and a radial cooling channel that intersects the axial cooling channel to define a cooling fluid circulation chamber, wherein the wedge also includes at least one contoured protrusion and at least one non-contoured portion that is shaped to substantially mirror the at least one contoured recess of the cavity and the at least one non-contoured wall of the cavity, respectively, wherein the at least one non-contoured portion extends from a radially outer surface of the wedge to the at least one contoured protrusion, and wherein the at least one contoured protrusion extends arcuately from the at least one non-contoured portion to a radially inner surface of the wedge, the wedge inserted such that the at least one contoured protrusion is positioned within the at least one contoured recess and such that the at least one non-contoured portion is positioned along the at least one non-contoured wall to facilitate positioning the wedge within the cavity, the at least one contoured protrusion and the at least one contoured recess shaped to facilitate minimizing stresses within the rotor and the wedge.