CASE STUDY

Axial Flux with No Rare Earth Magnets

WHO

A leading electric motor manufacturer

THE CHALLENGE

This company reached out to MPP requesting an alternative joining process of SMC inserts and Copper to produce Induction Rotor Assembly for an Axial Flux Motor.  The existing process utilized soldering, which had multiple post-processing steps and substantial amounts of material removal for flatness and rotor balance.  The new process would not only increase production capacity, provide a statistically capable process, and eliminate waste, but also produce a ready-to-assemble rotor obtaining the required overall length, flatness, and balance supporting the airgap requirements for a dual stator motor configuration. 

WHO

A leading electric motor manufacturer

THE CHALLENGE

This company reached out to MPP requesting an alternative joining process of SMC inserts and Copper to produce Induction Rotor Assembly for an Axial Flux Motor.  The existing process utilized soldering, which had multiple post-processing steps and substantial amounts of material removal for flatness and rotor balance.  The new process would not only increase production capacity, provide a statistically capable process, and eliminate waste, but also produce a ready-to-assemble rotor obtaining the required overall length, flatness, and balance supporting the airgap requirements for a dual stator motor configuration. 

THE SOLUTION

Collaborating with the customer, MPP utilized Design of Experiment tools to produce data and examples of materials that could be used to improve the original component’s design.  After proving the materials and processes were feasible, MPP developed Finite Element Analysis models refining the component design to meet the customer’s required thermal, mechanical, and electrical conductivity requirements.  Once the customer approved the design, MPP manufactured copper and SMC components utilizing our unique Powder Metal processes producing the ready-to-assemble rotor.  The customer fully evaluated the assemblies in motors via dyno tests as well as in application.

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THE IMPACT

By switching to the new rotor design and manufacturing process, the customer was able to reduce costs by 50%. The customer now has a robust supply chain ready to support high-volume production while exceeding cost savings and motor performance goals.  

50 %
Reduction in manufacturing costs
Don’t settle for current design constraints, talk to us to determine how our process can not only save money, but provide a superior product at competitive pricing.