Syensqo’s Amodel? PPA: A Light Weight & Sustainable Solution for eMotor Oil Delivery Tubing

By DeeDee Smith, Luigi Marino, Alyssa Arend, Ysée Genot, Echo Pan, Stefano Montani, and Brian Baleno

Syensqo Materials

A current challenge with smaller, lighter, and higher voltage electric motors (eMotors) is to optimize their thermal management system.? Cooling plays an important role in managing heat extraction from components that are getting more compact and power dense. Keeping the eMotor within a precise temperature range allows it to maintain high efficiency and guarantees the required component operational lifetime.

Historically, eMotors have utilized different cooling approaches including air, liquid, or oil. In recent years most of the automotive traction motors have shifted away from air and traditional liquids (ethylene/glycol/water) to oil cooling (automatic transmission fluid (ATF). One of the main factors driving this shift is the willingness to integrate the eMotor and transmission subsystems and to utilize a lubricant as a coolant for the eMotor. This allows for enhanced system level packaging, reducing weight and cost. It’s estimated that more than half of all eMotors will utilize oil cooling in the future.?

There are several design considerations that must be taken into account when using oil as a coolant. These include compatibility between oil and the materials used in magnet wires, slot liners, and mechanical cooling components, as well as electrical conductivity. One example of a mechanical component is the oil delivery tube. A stainless steel version is shown in Figure? along with two Amodel? PPA polymeric tubes below.

Figure 1 (Source: A2Mac1): eMotor Oil Delivery Tubes

Length (mm):? ? ? ? ? 256 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 276

Weight (g):? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 41 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?56

One of the first steps in converting this component from metal to Amodel? PPA is to ensure chemical compatibility. This begins with testing the material’s mechanical properties after high temperature ATF exposure, both in the short and long term. Figure 2 shows how Amodel? PPA Supreme performs after exposure to 150°C up to 1500 hours and Figure 3 shows how other electrical grades of Amodel? PPA perform after exposure to 150°C up to 5000 hours.?

Figure 2: PPA ATF Chemical Resistance Performance

Figure 3: Mechanical Properties Retention of electric grades of Amodel? PPA at 150 ℃ for 5,000 hrs

A key benefit of using Amodel? PPA instead of metal is weight reduction. As shown below in Table 1, the difference in density between the three materials can result in weight savings of 25 - 40%.??

The particular eMotor shown in Figure 1 uses two steel delivery tubes each weighing 0.104 kg combining for a total weight of 0.208 kg. If replaced with Amodel? PPA, these parts would offer potential for weight savings..

In addition to the inherent light weighting that comes with a material change, Syensqo’s Amodel? PPA allows engineers to eliminate several manufacturing steps, including the welding of the bracket. Beyond reducing mass, there is also the potential to eliminate secondary options like machining and welding, simplifying the process and consolidating the total number of parts.

Table 1: PPA vs. Steel vs. Aluminum Material Properties

Sustainability is also a consideration in the choice of materials. Syensqo continuously takes steps to reduce the global warming potential (GWP) and carbon footprint of Amodel? PPA. Their manufacturing plant in Augusta, Georgia where Amodel? PPA is produced, uses 100 % renewable electricity.?

Figure 4 highlights the sustainability improvements Syensqo has achieved since 2018.

Figure 4:? Sustainability Improvements at Amodel? PPA Manufacturing Plants

In summary, Syensqo’s Amodel? PPA offers the potential to replace metals in thermal management components to reduce weight while providing thermal performance, chemical resistance to ATF, and dimensional stability. Aside from the technical benefits, Syensqo is also addressing the topic of sustainability with Amodel? PPA by working to reduce its carbon footprint. If you are interested in learning more about these solutions, please contact us.?

Disclaimer: LCA information is provided in good faith and is believed accurate as of the date of this document. According to ISO 14040-44 standards, the use of LCA results to support comparative assertions intended to be disclosed raises special concerns and requires specific critical review. No critical review of these data was performed.