Design of Shaped-Profile Electrical Machine Windings for Multi-Material Additive Manufacture

Electrical machine windings designed for low-voltage applications typically comprise conductors coated with an appropriate grade of electrical insulation. Multi-material Additive Manufacturing (AM) enables production of windings with complex geometries, where the conductors’ electrical insulation is directly incorporated. Copper and ceramics have been recognised in the literature as promising candidates for multi-material AM coils. Ceramics typically exhibit sufficient dielectric strength for such low-voltage applications and are expected to enhance the heat dissipation from the windings due to superior thermal conductivity compared to conventional insulation materials. This paper presents the design of electrical machine windings for multi-material AM and demonstrates the design flexibility and potential performance gains available. A Permanent Magnet (PM) generator has been selected for illustration. The advantages of windings incorporating shaped profile copper conductors with ceramic insulation is evaluated in terms of thermal behaviour and power losses. The theoretical analyses have been supplemented with experimentally derived data.