Abstract
Samples from FeSi4 powder were fabricated with a low power selective laser melting (SLM) system using a laser re-melting strategy. The sample material was characterized through magnetic measurements. The study showed excellent DC magnetic properties, comparable to commercial and other 3D printed soft ferromagnetic materials from the literature at low (1 T) magnetization. Empirical total core losses were segregated into hysteresis, eddy and excessive losses via the subtraction of finite element method (FEM) simulated eddy current losses and hysteresis losses measured at quasi-static conditions. Hysteresis losses were found to decrease from 3.65 to 0.95 W/kg (1 T, 50 Hz) after the annealing. Both empirical and FEM results confirm considerable eddy currents generated in the printed bulk toroidal sample, which increase dramatically at high material saturation after annealing. These losses could potentially be reduced by using partitioned material internal structure realized by printed airgaps. Similarly, with regard to the samples characterized in this study, the substantially increased core losses induced by material oversaturation due to reduced filling factor may present a challenge in realizing 3D printed electrical machines with comparable performance to established 2D laminated designs.
Highlights
The ever-accelerating advancements in the capabilities, accessibilities and cost-efficiency of metal additive manufacturing (AM) platforms have sparked an interest in the electrical machine research community for developing novel three-dimensional topology-optimized 3D printed electrical machines (EM)
This paper describes the sample preparation, printing, test setup and empirical results for magnetic measurements of selective laser melting (SLM)-fabricated soft ferromagnetic silicon steel
Quasi-static measurements of the sample presented in Figure 6 shows comparable DC magnetic properties to commercial and 3D printed soft ferromagnetic materials from the literature
Summary
The ever-accelerating advancements in the capabilities, accessibilities and cost-efficiency of metal additive manufacturing (AM) platforms have sparked an interest in the electrical machine research community for developing novel three-dimensional topology-optimized 3D printed electrical machines (EM). No research group has printed an EM with improved performance or efficiency over the traditionally manufactured EMs. fully 3D printing an EM without any assembly or post-processing during or after printing has yet to be achieved, all the necessary components have successfully been individually fabricated: soft magnetic rotor [1,2] and stator designs [3], gapped [4] and insulated [5]. Coils and metal bearings [6]. For prototyping full 3D printing electrical machines, several hybrid methods have been employed that utilize additively manufactured components, such as inserting components during printing (bearings, coils and magnets) [7] or assembling components fabricated with dedicated metal printing systems after post-production [3].
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