Discharge Resistant Epoxy/Clay Nanocomposite for High Torque Density Electrical Propulsion

Rapid growing demand in higher power/torque density and payload efficiency of marine electrical propulsion can be addressed by a high heat transfer, indirect cooled stator insulation system. A novel nanocomposite insulation has been developed for high torque density machine through proper dispersion of 2D nanoclay in epoxy resin matrix to obtain improvement in both thermal and electrical performance. The voltage endurance testing shows that while neat epoxy resin failed within 500 hours, the nanocomposite survived for more than 3000 hours. The erosion rate, evaluated by the depth and volume, of nanocomposite was also significantly slower than the neat epoxy resin. The layered structure of clay is attributed to benefit the discharge resistance.