The automotive industry is transforming from traditional internal combustion drive systems to alternative ones, mostly based on electric motors. Fueled by strict requirements and high competition on the market, simulation has become an essential part of the development process. The precise structural strength simulation of rotors is extremely difficult, as a consequence of the nonlinear mechanical behavior of the lamination stack. Due to computational limits, this part has traditionally been simulated as a solid structure with orthotropic linear material models. These models were not capable of accurately simulating the axial nonlinear stiffness, the separation / slip of individual sheets or their plastic deformations. The method presented in this article does not have these limitations. By using a stacked shell approach, simulating all of the sheets separately using a contact model developed especially for this purpose, the method can be used to model real rotors using a fair amount of computational resources. The new method contributes significantly to the precision of virtual tests of rotors used in electric drives.

The development of electric motors for automotive applications requires precise material models to simulate structural strength and NVH (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) properties. Modeling the behavior of lamination stacks, composed of stacked steel plates, presents significant challenges. This study conducted dynamic and quasi-static experiments at various preload levels on an unmodified automotive lamination stack. Significant discrepancies were identified between stiffness values obtained from static and dynamic measurements. Consequently, using dynamically obtained stiffness values in static models, and vice versa, leads to inaccuracies and should be avoided. These results enhance the precision and efficiency of simulations used in the design and optimization of electric motors.

Electric motors in automotive applications are subjected to high thermal and structural loads, while having strict requirements regarding dimensions, mass, and costs. The design of such motors requires sophisticated simulation models. The laminate stack in the rotor of such a motor is made of steel sheets and behaves transversally isotropic: the radial stiffness is equivalent to steel, and in the axial direction, it has a highly progressive nonlinear stiffness characteristic. The loading and unloading stiffness curves change from cycle to cycle when subjected to repetitive loads. In this paper, the usage of a single approximating curve to describe the longitudinal stiffness of the laminate stack is proposed. This approximation can be used in FEM models to reproduce the structural nonlinear behavior of such a laminate stack using a simpler approach than implementing the full loading and unloading curves in a material model, at a price of negligible loss of precision.

With the increasingly strict global regulations on vehicle emissions, the demand for electromobility has risen due to its potential to reduce local emissions. However, designing an electric motor for use in passenger cars poses significant challenges. The e-motor should operate reliably in various climates with good mechanical and electrical characteristics, be lightweight, withstand repetitive thermal and structural loads, be cost-effective, and - last but not least - exhibit good noise and vibration properties. To meet these requirements, virtual testing through simulations has become the most efficient and economical approach, enabling the identification of weaknesses and unwanted behaviors before physical prototyping. This paper focuses on the testing of lamination stacks, a critical component of electric motors. Two methods of stiffness measurement for such parts are compared: static stiffness determination and dynamic analysis. The former involve compressing the specimen and measuring the force-displacement response, while dynamic method uses the restoring force surface method to obtain the stiffness and damping characteristics. The study highlights the importance of considering nonlinearity in stiffness measurements. The stiffness of lamination stacks varies depending on the pretension state, and a significant hysteresis exists between the loading and unloading curves. The paper discusses the experimental procedures for each method. The findings emphasize the necessity of accurate stiffness characterization for different applications, such as structural strength, modal analysis, dynamic analysis, and noise-vibration-harshness (NVH) studies. The research contributes to the development of electric machines by providing insights into effective stiffness measurement techniques for lamination stacks.

Structural simulations of electric motors require precise material models. Laminate stacks that are made of several identical steel sheets are particularly challenging to simulate using FEA. The structural stiffness of laminate stacks usually follows transversal isotropic behavior. Measuring a complete laminate stack used in passenger cars is challenging due to its size and the high testing load needed to reach real loads experienced while in operation. A new method capable of performing such measurements is presented in this article, with the help of equipment normally used for testing structures used in civil engineering. Two sets of exemplary results are presented utilizing this measurement procedure, that were performed on a real automotive rotor laminate stack: axial compression stiffness from a cyclic test, and shear stiffness at various axial preload levels. In the axial compression load case, the loading and unloading curves form a hysteresis, that changes in every test cycle. Shear stiffness shows high dependance on the axial compression preload. After loading and unloading the stack with shear loads, significant plastic deformations remain.