Additively Manufactured Ultralight Shaped-Profile Windings for HF Electrical Machines and Weight-Sensitive Applications

Abstract

Nowadays, additive manufacturing (AM) is becoming a more feasible solution for scalable electric drives compared to traditional production systems. Also, with the significantly growing automotive sector, innovation in electric machine technology is evolving rapidly. With the unmatched freedom in geometry, AM offers a great deal of flexibility in the design of electrical machine parts. Not only the passive parts can be printed such as the frame and the shaft of the electrical machine, but also active parts, such as windings, can be printed in lightweight materials such as Al–Si–Mg-based alloy. The main focus of this article is to further utilize AM in the design of electrical machine windings, with low weight and low losses especially at high-frequency (HF) operation. Aiming at HF loss reduction, different AM coils are prototyped using different materials, and their performance is compared with traditionally manufactured coils. Moreover, a new design concept of shaped-profile conductors is presented with reduced proximity effect and less impact by the cross-slot leakage flux. This design combines high electromagnetic performance and ultralightweight merits, allowing for higher power density electrical machines.