Investigation of an Addtively-Manufactured Modular Permanent Magnet Machine for High Specific Power Design

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) can open up the design space for tight integration of electrical machines, thermal management systems as well as power electronics. It can be adopted in integrated modular machines and drives (IMMD) to improve the system integration and performance. This paper investigates an additively-manufactured permanent magnet (PM) machine with modular stator and tooth winding design. Leveraging the capability of AM in terms of building complex 3D structure, two design approaches are explored separately: (i) Encapsulated end winding with stator and rotor overhang, in which the end windings of the stator are encapsulated by soft magnetic material (SMC) cores to improve stator heat dissipation in the end region while keeping core loss due to end leakage flux at a low level; (ii) Direct cooling through heat pipes integrated with conductors, in which the cross section of the conductors is customized to increase slot fill factor as well as minimize AC losses. The results show that both approaches can benefit thermal management of the PM machine, which is promising for the pursuit of high specific power.