Together with several industrial partners such as Wafios and Trumpf, the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University is currently investigating the potential of aluminum as an alternative, cost-effective conductor material for electric motor components. Following typical mechanisms in the automotive industry, the cost pressure on electric motors is likely to increase further in the coming years, which will bring copper into focus due to it being a costly stator material.
The RWTH Chair and its project partners are therefore investigating whether and how individual processes in the production of hairpin stators can be transferred to the alternative conductor material. The aim is to exhibit hairpin stators with aluminum wire as demonstrators at the Coiltech trade fair in Italy this coming September.
Picture: PEM | RWTH Aachen
