Additive Manufacturing in Construction of Electrical Machines – A Review

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been undergoing dynamic development in recent years. The latest evolution of AM has been recognised as a key enabling technology in a wide range of applications, some of which include medical, aerospace and automotive industries. The use of AM opens new avenues for design solutions, otherwise challenging or impossible to realise when using more conventional techniques for manufacture. No- or low-material waste and high-flexibility are some of the attributes of modern AM. This paper aims to provide an overview of the existing examples of employing AM in construction of electrical machines. The paper reviews research and development work related to all integral components of an electrical machine assembly. These include active parts like coils/windings, electrical insulation, stator/rotor magnetic core packs, permanent magnets (PMs). The machine structural/mechanical and thermal management components are also discussed in the paper. Further to these, the authors make some comments/forecasts on how the AM could improve performance and manufacturability of the future electrical machines.