Design and Performance of Laser Additively Manufactured Core Induction Motor

Over the past decade, additive manufacturing (AM) of functional electromagnetic components has grown into a promising new area of research. Not only does AM allow for unparalleled in-house prototyping speed and flexibility, but it also introduces a completely new set of design rules for obtaining optimized component shapes. Up to date, relatively few functional electromagnetic components or devices have actually been printed, and fewer still actually characterized or compared in terms of performance. This work describes the completion process of a prototype induction motor with fully 3D printed electrical steel cores, from design to printing, post-processing, assembling, and performance evaluation. This work aims to establish a baseline for further optimization and to map the design and production process of a fully functional electrical machine for future reference. The output of the finished motor was measured at 68 W (0.5 Nm) at 34% energy efficiency. This is roughly 2/3 of the efficiency of conventional machines of the same size and type. Further optimization steps for the 3D printed material and core design are proposed to obtain higher motor performance.