Efficient and power-dense electrical machines are critical in driving the next generation of green energy technologies for many industries including automotive, aerospace and energy. However, one of the primary requirements to enable this is the fabrication of compact custom windings with optimised materials and geometries. Electrical machine windings rely on highly electrically conductive materials, and therefore, the Additive Manufacturing (AM) of custom copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) windings offers opportunities to simultaneously improve efficiency through optimised materials, custom geometries and topology and thermal management through integrated cooling strategies. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is the most mature AM technology for metals, however, laser processing highly reflective and conductive metals such as Cu and Ag is highly challenging due to insufficient energy absorption. In this regard, this study details the 400 W L-PBF processing of high-purity Cu, Ag and Cu–Ag alloys and the resultant electrical conductivity performance. Six Cu and Ag material variants are investigated in four comparative studies characterising the influence of material composition, powder recoating, laser exposure and electropolishing. The highest density and electrical conductivity achieved was 88% and 73% IACS, respectively. To aid in the application of electrical insulation coatings, electropolishing parameters are established to improve surface roughness. Finally, proof-of-concept electrical machine coils are fabricated, highlighting the potential for 400 W L-PBF processing of Cu and Ag, extending the current state of the art.
Natural fibre reinforced polymer composites are often a better substitute to man-made fibre reinforced polymer composites because of their wide availability, economical, recyclability and biodegradability. In this paper, natural fibre reinforced polymer composites are made using coir/ fly ash as reinforcements. Influences of polymer types, natural fibre (coir) length and wt. % of fly ash on tensile and flexural behaviors are investigated. General purpose resin, Vinyl ester and Isophthalic resin are the different polymers used in making samples. The samples are prepared according to Taguchi Design of Experiments using L9 orthogonal array. To explore the significance of participating factors such as polymer type, natural fibre (coir) length and wt. % of fly ash on the tensile and flexural behaviors, ANOVA is implemented. Regression equations reveal that the type of polymer influences tensile and flexural behaviors more than that of natural fibre (coir) length and wt. % of fly ash. HIGHLIGHTS• Influence of Fly ash and Coir Fibre in mechanical performance of Polymer composite• Polymers exhibits varying performance in tensile and flexural loading• A threshold fly ash proportion has been limited to 5-10%.• Increasing fibre length shows improvement in strength whereas short fibre are good enough for modulus.
Composites are widely used as a lightweight material in automotive, aerospace, transportation, wind turbines and leisure industries. Since the current research trend focuses on making eco‐friendly composites, objective is shifted towards manufacture of better composite materials with available/excess resources to contribute towards a more sustainable environment. This paper highlights fatigue life predictions and interaction among sugarcane, fly‐ash and carbon nano tubes. Instead of reinforcing synthetic materials in the polymer composite, an attempt is made in this work to reinforce biodegradable, recyclable, reusable materials in the polymer composite. Materials like sugarcane, carbon nano tubes and fly‐ash are chosen due to this corresponding nature. The influences of wt.% of sugarcane, carbon nano tubes, fly‐ash on fatigue behaviour of composite are determined. Fatigue analysis of materials prepared using different wt.% is carried out using ANSYS. Response surface methodology and design of experiments approach were implemented to decide on number of ANSYS simulations. Analysis of variance is used to find the influences of different parameters such as wt.% of sugarcane, carbon nano tubes, fly‐ash on fatigue behaviour of composites and obtained their optimized levels. Regression equation was found to determine the number of cycles to failure of the composite.
Composite materials are blended in such a way that their properties are multi-fold their components' properties. The use of green materials, as components, makes the product eco-friendly and that needs to prove product quality. This work identifies the fatigue limit of 3D-modeled composite laminate and virtually predicts the fatigue life cycle under a certain fatigue load. The 3D model is assigned with the properties of the different combinations of epoxy composite and fatigue analysis is carried out. The epoxy composite considered in the analysis has fly ash, boron nitride (BN), and sugarcane (SC) fiber as reinforcements. A central composite design (CCD) method under response surface methodology (RSM) has been used to develop the experimental trials. The regression equations of the RSM model are utilized to study the influences of reinforcements and their wt. % in the determined fatigue limit and fatigue life cycle. The results show that the fatigue limit of the composite is maximum when the wt. % of fly ash and BN is 2% and 1%, respectively. However, the fatigue life cycle is maximum with 2% wt. of sugarcane (1982 × 10<sup>3</sup> cycles) amidst minimum fly ash and BN. This work emphasizes the blending of specific wt. % of reinforcement in epoxy has significant control on the fatigue properties of the composites.
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