Additive Manufacturing for Electric Motors

电动汽车正日益成为日常生活的一部分。制造和原型这些电机往往是一个困难和耗时的过程。电机的设计必须从一开始就考虑可用的制造方法，限制了可用的设计选择。使用增材制造（AM）来生产这些绕组为在英国快速制作这些电机的原型创造了机会。此外，这种技术可以为新的高性能电机设计提供机会，而这些设计在以前的制造方法中是不可行的。为AM工艺创建绕组设计是复杂的，将研究如何设计绕组，使其既对机器电气性能最佳，又对AM工艺最佳。该项目将专注于制造单个导体，然后将其连接到印刷电路板（PCB）端部绕组。高频电动机需要“利兹”线，以在这些高交流频率下产生低电阻绕组。该项目将尝试使用AM方法制造“利兹”线，以实现电机内的高铜密度，同时保持使用多个小导体组成较大导体的优势。该项目的成果将允许使用AM电机绕组快速原型化当前电机设计。这些新的增材制造结构将被用作新一代电机的基础，这些电机专门为增材制造而设计，具有在英国实现性能优势和可制造性的潜力。

Electric motors are ever increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Manufacturing and prototyping these motors are often a difficult and time-consuming process. The design of the motors must consider the manufacturing methods available from the start, limiting the design choices available.Using Additive Manufacturing (AM) to produce these windings creates opportunities to rapidly prototype these motors in the UK. Moreover, such technology could present an opportunity for new high-performance motor designs that were previously infeasible with present manufacturing methods.Creating a winding design for an AM process is complex, designing the winding to be both electrically optimal for the machine and optimal for the AM process will be investigated. This project will concentrate on manufacturing individual conductors which will then be connected to printed circuit board (PCB) end windings. High frequency motors require "litz" wire to produce low resistance windings at these high AC frequencies. This project will attempt to build "litz" wire with AM methods allowing for high copper densities within the motor whilst maintaining the benefits of using multiple small conductors to make up a larger conductor.The outcomes of this project will allow current motor designs to be rapidly prototyped using AM machine windings. These new AM structures will then be used as the base for a new generation of electric machines which are designed specifically for AM giving the potential for performance benefits and manufacturability within the UK.