High Efficiency Electrical Machines enabled by a new UK Additive Manufacturing PEMD Supply Chain

交通电气化是英国到2050年实现净零目标的关键要求。政府最近决定在2030年前禁止销售新的内燃机汽车，这使得这一点变得更加紧迫。我们的汽车行业将需要显著地适应这种变化，需要颠覆性的创新来实现这一点，跨越英国交通网络中存在的无数使用案例。这种转变的相当大一部分将在电机和驱动器的改进方面，这些机器和驱动器将需要更轻、更强大，并不断增加产量。添加制造(AM)在提高制造电机的功率重量比方面显示了巨大的潜力，因为新的可能的组件几何结构提供了改善电机内铜损失的能力。AM还使新设计的快速成型和新材料的快速高效试验成为可能。该项目专注于氢燃料电池压缩机在这些发动机中的最终应用，因为目前这是一个低产量、高附加值的市场，效率是成功产品的关键驱动因素。为实现这一目标，我们需要开发用于开发电机铜绕组的创新设计和工艺。合成的产品将经过彻底的表征，因此在必要的绝缘和后处理之前了解它们的功能和材料性能，以便将它们集成到电机中。最后，这些新产品将被集成到一个完整的电动马达组装和试验中。该项目将首次展示用于利基汽车应用的额外制造的铜绕组，其数量具有商业可行性。这一应用的高性能、小众性质将确保这些产品在具有竞争力的价位上的商业可行性。该提案的一个重要结果将是通过将制成品与现有产品进行比较并确定任何潜在的优化或成本降低来进一步证明这一方法的适用性。这将最终确定每单位和工艺的最终成本，同时评估该成本和性能范围内产品的可能市场规模。通过这项提案开发的技能和能力将确保英国保持其在电机零部件添加剂制造方面的领先地位，并在我们走向净零的过程中巩固我们汽车行业的持续实力。

The electrification of transport is a vital requirement for the UK to achieve its net zero ambitions by 2050\. The recent Government decision to ban the sale of new ICE vehicles by 2030 has made this even more pressing. Our automotive industry will need to adapt significantly to this change and disruptive innovation will be required to achieve this across the myriad use cases that exist within the UK transport network.A considerable part of this transformation will be in the refinement of electrical machines and drives, which will need to be lighter, more powerful, and produced in ever increasing quantities. Additive manufacturing (AM) has shown immense potential in improving the power to weight ratio of manufactured motors by the newly possible component geometries offering improved copper losses within the motor. AM also enables rapid prototyping of new designs and trialling of new materials quickly and efficiently.This project is focusing on the end application of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Compressors for these motors as it is currently a low volume high value market where efficiency is a key driver in a successful product. Giving the perfect niche where AM could be commercially viable.To achieve this, we will need to develop innovative designs and processes for the development of copper windings in motors. The resultant products will be thoroughly characterised, so their functionality and material performance are understood before the necessary insulation and post-processing to allow their integration into an electrical machine. Finally, these new products will be integrated into a full e-motor assembly and trialled.This project will demonstrate, for the first time, additively manufactured copper windings for niche automotive applications at commercially viable quantities. The high performance, niche nature of this application will ensure the commercial viability of these products at a competitive price point. A significant outcome of the proposal will be to further exemplify the suitability of this approach by comparing the manufactured products to those currently available and identifying any potential optimisation or cost reductions. This will ultimately define a final cost per unit and process in series alongside an assessment of the possible market size for products in this cost and performance range.The skills and capabilities developed through this proposal will ensure the UK retains its leading position in additive manufacturing of electrical machine components and underpin the continued strength of our automotive sector as we move towards net zero.