Design of 3D-Printed Hybrid Axial-Flux Motor Using 3D-Printed SMC Core

Abstract

Axial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous motors (AFPMSMs) have a higher torque density than radial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous motors (RFPMSMs); therefore, AFPMSMs are widely used in high-power and high-efficiency motors. However, in the case of AFPMSMs, three-dimensional production is limited, less mass production is available, and the production unit cost is high because the shape of the motor is implemented by rolling the amorphous electrical steel sheet or molding the soft magnetic composite (SMC) to manufacture the motor. Therefore, in this paper, a 3D-printed AFPMSM is proposed, which takes high torque density including the AFPMSM shoe to mold existing SMC into shape when producing the AFPMSM using 3D printing. Further, hybrid AFPMSM, which is made by heeding, is proposed. To reduce core loss with 3D-printed AFPMSM, the core loss of the proposed hybrid AFPMSM was compared to that of the target RFPMSM in this study. The 3D-printed AFPMSM showed a 48% increase in core loss compared to the target motor. However, the proposed hybrid AFPMSM reduced the ratio of the electrical steel sheet by more than 25% compared to 3D-printed AFPMSM. The validity of the proposed model was verified using the finite element method.