Automotive Electric Machine Secrets to be Uncovered in Chicago

From maximizing efficiency to reducing noise, research and development in the automotive sector offers many valuable lessons for the wider electric motor manufacturing industry, says multi-award-winning engineering consultant Dr. Bruno Lequesne. Dr. Lequesne will explore solutions to these issues and more in his seminar, held in the CWIEME Connect Theatre on Wednesday October 5, 12:00-12:45. CWIEME Chicago will take place in the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, 4-6 October, 2016.

For the last 30 years the automotive sector has been at the forefront of electric motor design innovation with millions of dollars of funding being poured into developing entirely new technologies or adapting existing ones to produce high-performing and highly attractive products for the mass consumer vehicle market. Areas of focus ranged from electric power steering to fuel pumps.

Most recently, however, much of the research in the automotive sector has been dedicated to boosting the power, range and reliability of hybrid and electric cars in light of growing environmental concerns.

“Despite all of this research, I don’t think the industry has found the optimum formula for electric motors and their systems yet, particularly for hybrids,” says Dr. Bruno Lequesne, an internationally-renowned automotive engineer and speaker at the forthcoming CWIEME Chicago exhibition for electric motor, generator and transformer manufacturing. “Researchers are still looking at the basics – permanent magnet or induction motor, even Lundell, and their different design features – as well as how the motor fits within the overall electric drive system. However, in so doing there are many things that can be learned about electric motors for the wider electric motor manufacturing industry.”

In his CWIEME Chicago seminar, entitled ‘Technology challenges and advances for automotive electric machines’, Dr. Lequesne hopes to attract the attention of material suppliers to automotive electric motor manufacturing, as well as provide design inspiration for engineers working with other industrial applications.

“Everyone is pushing towards higher speed – and with higher speed motors you get a smaller size so lots of changes are needed in the design and materials for the laminations and windings,” he says. “To solve the issues manufacturers are facing, especially in terms of losses, designers and material suppliers need to work together to come up with new solutions.”

One solution that has gained currency in the last five to 10 years is the use of bar windings, where bars are inserted into to the stator slots. “This technique has been well known for decades but was previously only used for very large machines. Now it is used on relatively small machines and has had a very good effect on the so-called ‘fill factor’ – how much copper you can fit in a given slot. However, there is still a debate as to when to use bar windings and when to use conventional wires,” he says.

Another solution from the recent past is the development of concentrated windings, which are regularly used in motors for fuel pumps, and other accessory motors, even hybrid and power steering motors, due to their relative ease of manufacture.