Application of Magnetic Metal 3-D Printing on the Integration of Axial-Flow Impeller Fan Motor Design

This article aims to implement a fan motor design with an airfoil-shaped rotor via the newly developed 3-D printing method. This integrated design is originated from a flux-switching permanent magnet motor, in which the motor rotor can directly produce airflow without any external impellers. Such a design and manufacturing process can effectively enhance the robustness of the fan motor structure and increase its power density. This article adopts 3-D finite element analysis for electromagnetic and fluid field simulation. Moreover, a new metal 3-D printing method with a low core loss feature during high frequency operation is applied. Finally, the experimental results with a prototype are presented to verify the designed performance.