Fully Printed Electrical Motor

In the recent years with the advent of advanced manufacturing (AM) techniques and novel materials, there is a strong interest to rethink the possibilities on how Electrical machines and electrical motors (EM) are manufactured, and which steps can improve their performance from a design and durability point of view.

The aim of this ambitious project is to advance the materials and processing technologies for the AM of EMs. The project focused on novel methods of producing and assembling coils and ferromagnetic parts. An axial flux switched reluctance motor topology was selected to demonstrate the developed technology. Multilayer conductive coils were produced by combining direct-ink-writing (DIW) of silver-based conductive inks with a modified laminated objective manufacturing (LOM) process. An optimized thermal post treatment has been developed to achieve the necessary conductivity. Rotor and stator component have been produced by sinter-based additive manufacturing of Fe-Si soft ferromagnetic powders, followed by high temperature consolidation. Solvent on granules 3D-Printing (SG 3 DP) and Material Extrusion (MEX) techniques were the AM techniques comparatively studied and implemented for these parts. Characterization of the printed ferromagnetic materials by measurement of B-H cycles has shown reduced hysteresis losses compared with reference machined steels.

This highly challenging and innovative project combines the complementary expertise of two institutes: iPrint (inkjet printing and coating, HEIA-FR) and the Institute of Systems Engineering (industrial electronics and drives, powder technology and advanced materials, HEI VS). The project is well aligned with the strategic research interests in Switzerland’s top advanced manufacturing initiatives