Powdered Metal Downloadable Resources

With the electrification of the automobile continuing at an accelerated pace, many wonder what type of motor is best for the modern electric drivetrain.

Sometimes manufacturing moves faster than its customers. Methods of manufacturing metal powder that seemed unthinkable a decade ago are now suddenly part of the mainstream -- or so you hear.

The design of an electrical machine is difficult at best. It’s always a compromise between manufacturability and performance.

The invention of the internal combustion (IC) engine was a boon to transportation and efficiency and all things America. But, as IC technology ages and environmental concerns increase, alternatives are looking to take its place.

When most people think of the metal-making process, they picture a stream of molten metal pouring into a mold -- it makes a nice visual for films and commercials. But when you consider making parts with powder metal, it may be a little harder to picture the process -- or why one would bother with powder metal in the first place.

As an engineer tasked with bringing your product into the future, you probably have many decisions to make when choosing the motor design of your AC project.

The most common applications of electrical motors fall into two main categories -- axial flux motors vs. radial flux motors. There’s also a third category -- transverse flux motors -- but this configuration is not as widespread (yet). 

For decades, radial flux motors were the most common solution. However, for reasons we’ll discuss below, axial flux machines are becoming the standard for AC motor quality.