Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor

Additive manufacturing is acknowledged as a key enabling technology, although its adoption is still constrained to niche applications. A promising area for this technology is the production of electrical machines (EMs) and/or their main components (e.g. magnetic cores, windings, heat exchangers, etc...

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Main Authors: Gargalis, Leonidas, Madonna, Vincenzo, Giangrande, Paolo, Rocca, Roberto, Hardy, Mark, Ashcroft, Ian, Galea, Michael, Hague, Richard
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/64183/
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author Gargalis, Leonidas
Madonna, Vincenzo
Giangrande, Paolo
Rocca, Roberto
Hardy, Mark
Ashcroft, Ian
Galea, Michael
Hague, Richard
author_facet Gargalis, Leonidas
Madonna, Vincenzo
Giangrande, Paolo
Rocca, Roberto
Hardy, Mark
Ashcroft, Ian
Galea, Michael
Hague, Richard
author_sort Gargalis, Leonidas
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Additive manufacturing is acknowledged as a key enabling technology, although its adoption is still constrained to niche applications. A promising area for this technology is the production of electrical machines (EMs) and/or their main components (e.g. magnetic cores, windings, heat exchangers, etc.) due to the potential of creating lightweight, highly efficient rotating motors, suitable for applications requiring a low moment of inertia. This work investigates the readiness of metal additive manufacturing, specifically Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), applied to the field of EMs to bridge the gaps of how to use this technological approach in this field. A soft magnetic material featuring high silicon content (Fe-5.0%w.t.Si) has been developed for LPBF and a rotor has been 3D-printed for a switched reluctance machine. The printed rotor was assembled into a conventionally laminated stator and the performance of the whole machine was evaluated. Its performance was compared against an identical machine equipped with a laminated rotor of the same dimensions made of conventional non-oriented silicon steel. A comparative study was carried out through both finite element simulations and experimental tests. The efficiency of the two machines was assessed together with the principal electrical and mechanical quantities under several operating conditions.
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spelling nottingham-641832020-12-31T06:01:28Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/64183/ Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor Gargalis, Leonidas Madonna, Vincenzo Giangrande, Paolo Rocca, Roberto Hardy, Mark Ashcroft, Ian Galea, Michael Hague, Richard Additive manufacturing is acknowledged as a key enabling technology, although its adoption is still constrained to niche applications. A promising area for this technology is the production of electrical machines (EMs) and/or their main components (e.g. magnetic cores, windings, heat exchangers, etc.) due to the potential of creating lightweight, highly efficient rotating motors, suitable for applications requiring a low moment of inertia. This work investigates the readiness of metal additive manufacturing, specifically Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), applied to the field of EMs to bridge the gaps of how to use this technological approach in this field. A soft magnetic material featuring high silicon content (Fe-5.0%w.t.Si) has been developed for LPBF and a rotor has been 3D-printed for a switched reluctance machine. The printed rotor was assembled into a conventionally laminated stator and the performance of the whole machine was evaluated. Its performance was compared against an identical machine equipped with a laminated rotor of the same dimensions made of conventional non-oriented silicon steel. A comparative study was carried out through both finite element simulations and experimental tests. The efficiency of the two machines was assessed together with the principal electrical and mechanical quantities under several operating conditions. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2020-11-11 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/64183/1/Gargalis-2020-Additive-manufacturing-and-testing-.pdf Gargalis, Leonidas, Madonna, Vincenzo, Giangrande, Paolo, Rocca, Roberto, Hardy, Mark, Ashcroft, Ian, Galea, Michael and Hague, Richard (2020) Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor. IEEE Access, 8 . pp. 206982-206991. ISSN 2169-3536 Additive manufacturing; laser powder bed fusion; soft magnetic material; silicon steel; switched reluctance machine; 3D printed rotor; finite element simulation; AC electric drives. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3037190 doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3037190 doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3037190
spellingShingle Additive manufacturing; laser powder bed fusion; soft magnetic material; silicon steel; switched reluctance machine; 3D printed rotor; finite element simulation; AC electric drives.
Gargalis, Leonidas
Madonna, Vincenzo
Giangrande, Paolo
Rocca, Roberto
Hardy, Mark
Ashcroft, Ian
Galea, Michael
Hague, Richard
Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor
title Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor
title_full Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor
title_fullStr Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor
title_full_unstemmed Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor
title_short Additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor
title_sort additive manufacturing and testing of a soft magnetic rotor for a switched reluctance motor
topic Additive manufacturing; laser powder bed fusion; soft magnetic material; silicon steel; switched reluctance machine; 3D printed rotor; finite element simulation; AC electric drives.
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/64183/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/64183/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/64183/