Marius Paul Behrendt, M. Sc.

Research Staff Profile

• Research Topic - Additive Manufacturing of Electric Machines
  What is your research topic and what is it about?

  Research into the additive manufacturing of electric machines focuses on new design freedoms, integrated cooling and material selection. Processes such as selective laser melting enable the design of complex geometries. Challenges include increased losses due to additional eddy currents in the conductive material and the time-efficient dimensioning of three-dimensional machines. 

  At the IAL, my work primarily focuses on the additive manufacturing of synchronous reluctance motors. The objective is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of additive manufacturing compared to conventionally manufactured machines and to validate these findings both through simulation and on the test bench. In addition, my research involves developing design concepts for additively manufactured machines that can also be applied to other types of machines, such as permanent magnetic or electrically excited synchronous machines. 

  Why is your topic relevant?

  The increasingly widespread use of 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is opening up new possibilities, particularly in the prototyping of electric machines. This requires the ability to design electric machines quickly, which in turn necessitates a fundamental understanding of additively manufactured machines. The most significant difference compared to conventional machines is the presence of additional eddy currents and the resulting higher losses within the machine. These eddy currents can be reduced in additively manufactured materials through appropriate methods. How well these methods work must currently be determined through complex three-dimensional simulations. It therefore makes sense to develop calculation methods that can significantly reduce the time required for these calculations. This also applies to other three-dimensional design guidelines made possible by additive manufacturing, such as novel angles or improved cooling concepts.