Minimization of Winding AC Losses Using Inhomogeneous Electrical Conductivity Enabled by Additive Manufacturing

Electrical conductivity (EC) of additively manufactured conductors can be purposely controlled by changing asbuilt orientation and postprocessing conditions. This feature can be leveraged to minimize winding alternate current (AC) losses in electrical machines adopting solid conductors. This paper deals with additive-manufacturing-based winding design of a high-specific-power permanent-magnet (PM) machine for aerospace applications. Specifically, conductors near slot opening are designed with low EC to reduce winding AC losses while conductors near slot bottom adopt higher EC to reduce direct current (DC) losses. Parametric finite element (FE) models are developed for a thorough design parametric analysis targeting high-specific-power as well as high efficiency. The implementation of the proposed coil concept with inhomogeneous EC are discussed and demonstrated.