State-of-the-Art Shaped Profile Windings and Their Integrated Cooling Configurations Enabled by Additive Manufacturing Technology

The ongoing development of transportation electrification is driving an increasing demand for higher motor power density. Improved thermal design of electrical machines, including both heat generation and dissipation aspects, could be beneficial for enhancing motor power density beyond current state of the art. As the main heat source, motor windings are being increasingly required with reduced loss generation and enhanced cooling capability. Owing to the considerable manufacturing flexibility offered by additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, shaped profile windings with unconventional geometries are extensively explored with the aim of AC loss suppression and slot utilization enhancement. Furthermore, these tailored winding profiles enable the integration of direct cooling configurations such as liquid channels or heat pipes, thereby improving their thermal behavior. However, a more intensive summary and comparison are necessary to further extend their investigations and applications based on a deeper understanding. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art shaped profile windings and their integrated direct cooling configurations enabled by AM technologies. Further to this, this article also discusses the merits and restrictions associated with additively manufactured windings and their direct cooling methods at the current stage.