Impact of eddy current minimizing stator teeth in additively manufactured electric machines

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers a promising pathway for producing components with complex geometries to improve the power density and efficiency of electric machines. However, manufacturing laminated flux-carrying components using AM remains impractical. To address this challenge, recent studies have explored complex geometric structures that minimize eddy currents, such as the Hilbert space-filling pattern, which can be readily fabricated through AM. These designs introduce intricate flux paths that alter the magnetic fields in the airgap and affect the machine’s electromagnetic performance. This paper investigates the impact of such eddy-current-minimizing structures on machine performance by comparing a conventional laminated stator axial flux machine with two AM designs featuring the Hilbert stator structure, one with a laminated stator yoke and another with wider stator teeth. Results show that although AM enables the realization of flux-carrying components with complex topologies, design modifications are required to achieve performance comparable to traditional laminated machines. Furthermore, the AM design with wider stator teeth demonstrates approximately 10% higher efficiency than the design with a laminated yoke under low-speed, high-torque operating conditions, highlighting the potential of geometric optimization in enhancing the efficiency of additively manufactured electric machine stators.