Sustainable manufacturing of Fe-Co electric steel sheets via additive screen printing

Electric drives designed for high-performance applications with extreme power density often rely on Fe49Co2V electrical steel sheets instead of Fe-Si, as this alloy offers exceptionally high magnetic induction along with high magnetic permeability. Conventionally, these motor sheets are fabricated using milling, followed by the final shaping through punching or laser cutting. However, due to the high cost of cobalt and the complexity of mechanical processing, components made from this material are extremely expensive. Given that cobalt is a critical raw material, increasing its utilization efficiency is of significant economic and strategic interest. In this context, additive screen printing presents a sustainable and near-net shape manufacturing route for producing stator and rotor geometries from Fe-Co alloys. This technique significantly enhances material yield, particularly of cobalt, by minimizing waste typically generated during subtractive methods. Furthermore, by using elementary powder mixtures instead of gas-atomized pre-alloyed powders, the material costs can be substantially reduced. This not only enables tailored alloying during processing, but also broadens accessibility for scalable production. The study compares the magnetic properties achieved through both conventional and additive manufacturing approaches. It demonstrates that screen printing of Fe-Co electric steels can achieve competitive performance, offering a cost-effective and resource-efficient alternative for producing high-performance motor components.