Perfomances evaluation of a 3D printed rotor for a synchronous reluctance machine

Metallic additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is greatly improving for the last decade. This new technology brings a greater design freedom than classical manufacturing and allow the production of breakthrough architectures especially thanks to topological optimization. In many industrial applications, metallic additive manufacturing already showed its importance, as the mechanical properties of parts manufactured this way are comparable with conventional materials. This article purpose is to evaluate the maturity of metallic additive manufacturing in the field of electro mechanical conversion. To achieve this goal, a rotor of a synchronous reluctance machine has been printed with metallic additive manufacturing, specifically Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology. For its interesting magnetic properties and low magnetic losses, the INVAR 36, i.e. the binary Fe-35%Ni alloy was used. The performances of this rotor are compared to the performances of a classical laminated rotor with the exact same dimensions, both driven by the same stator.