Electric Engine Manufacturing using 3D Printing

Since their origin, electric motors haven’t changed much in terms of material composition or design. The potential of a 3-D printed motor for weight loss and performance enhancement is now being investigated by researchers throughout the world.

Even Nevertheless, until very recently, the 3-D printed electric motor was just a theoretical idea. Recently, a group at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, England, constructed an electric motor using additive manufacturing, with hopes to improve upon that initial effort.

The main engine components were recently 3-D printed by the researchers. They already have a method for printing the motor casing, which includes the cooling channels required for their water-cooled engine.

When you put the parts and the casing together, you have a fully printed electric engine. Despite the fact that the printed parts are smaller and lighter than traditional motor components, the end result has a higher output power. According to Dan Walton, MTC technology manager for electrification, the printed motor has fewer parts than its traditional counterpart, which can simplify manufacturing supply chains, cut operating costs, and reduce assembly and inspection time. He oversaw a multidisciplinary team of engineers with expertise in product design, additive manufacturing, materials, and simulation.

Walton finds it amusing that the group’s original plan was to advance scientific research into an electric motor produced through additive manufacturing.

The design freedom provided by additive manufacturing allows engineers to mix components in ways that would not be possible if the motor were made traditionally. Among the advantages are:

Reduced low-production lead times since no tooling is required to 3-D print components

There are fewer assembling stages.

There are fewer pieces to design and manage.

Fewer pieces of manufacturing machinery would be required for production, freeing up floor space and lowering capital expenses.

The MTC team began by reusing an off-the-shelf electric motor to show their capabilities. They replaced the air-cooled case, which was cast, with a 3-D printed water-cooled motor housing.

Walton claims that its refurbished engine saved 10% of its bulk and 30% of its size due to the capacity to design and integrate components in new, space-saving approaches.

“Because the work was intended to be a thought-provoking artwork illustrating what was conceivable, we did not test the machine to its limits,” he stated. “However, depending on the motor architecture, a decent rule of thumb is that moving from an air-cooled to a water-cooled electric motor can provide you with two to three times the power.”

He did bring up an issue with additive manufacturing.

“Unquestionably, the AM process is slower than a high-volume production strategy,” he continued. “That’s why you’re more likely to see an AM motor in a car.”

“Additive manufacturing is undoubtedly slower than a high-volume production strategy,” he continued. “As a result, an AM motor is more likely to be found in aerospace or motorsport applications than in mass-produced electric vehicles.”

The process engineers use the same design principles to design the AM motor casing and cooling chambers as they do for traditional cast casings. “As with many development projects, we start with requirements and limiting factors,” says Walton.

What is the connection between the motor and the casing?

What are some of the things that the computer may experience as stressors?

Where can I place the sensors and connectors?

What materials are available?

After considering the available space, the designers created conceptual CAD models to show what materials might work best. Walton said that often the concepts for products are much heavier than they need to be, but it’s an opportunity for us to consider the “design for assembly” challenges for the product.“That means we ask questions like:

Can I integrate these parts?

Do I need these fasteners?

They used a design tool to optimize the shape of the parts so that the motor would be the smallest possible size. The output of the to statement is the value of the expression at the current point in the program.

What’s the next step for the team? Further improvement.

“We focused only on the benefits of laminated molding as an alternative to structural components that are inactive in a running engine,” says Walton. “But there are plenty of opportunities for further improvement in this area, whether by new, stronger material alloys that allow lighter components, or by further engineering to place cooling channels closer to the heat source.

His team also pays attention to the “active” component of the engine.

“For example, the development of additionally manufactured motor windings could lead to actual performance improvements in electric motors in the future,” Walton said.

These goals are far from the group’s first “theoretical” study of 3D-printed electric motors