Additive Manufacturing and Topology Optimization of Magnetic Materials for Electrical Machines—A Review

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has many advantages over traditional manufacturing methods and has been increasingly used in medical, aerospace, and automotive applications. The flexibility of additive manufacturing technologies to fabricate complex geometries from copper, polymer, and ferrous materials presents unique opportunities for new design concepts and improved machine power density without significantly increasing production and prototyping cost. Topology optimization investigates the optimal distribution of single or multiple materials within a defined design space, and can lead to unique geometries not realizable with conventional optimization techniques. As an enabling technology, additive manufacturing provides an opportunity for machine designers to overcome the current manufacturing limitation that inhibit adoption of topology optimization. Successful integration of additive manufacturing and topology optimization for fabricating magnetic components for electrical machines can enable new tools for electrical machine designers. This article presents a comprehensive review of the latest achievements in the application of additive manufacturing, topology optimization, and their integration for electrical machines and their magnetic components.