Additive Manufacturing of Amorphous Metals for Soft Magnetics

European Innovation Council Project No. 101046870
Project starting date: 1 March 2022
Project duration: 48 month

AM2SoftMag is working toward the vision that, one day, 3D printing will become the de facto standard technology for the manufacturing of high-performance amorphous soft-magnetic components for highly efficient electrical machines and passive electrical components. To prove the viability of the approach, the partners expect to demonstrate superior operating efficiency of an electric motor comprised of soft-magnetic stator and rotor components created by means of selective laser melting (SLM) of soft-magnetic bulk metallic glass (BMG) alloys and powders specially designed and optimized for the additive manufacturing (AM) process. Adding to the already outstanding magnetic and mechanical properties of BMGs, this incremental casting process overcomes the wall thickness limitations of conventional metallic glass casting processes, enables the energy-efficient near net-shape production of complex geometries not achievable by other means and opens up avenues for the digital design of micro-localized properties throughout the components. Furthermore, the method will expand the spectrum of manufacturable and recyclable amorphous metals thereby increasing the availability of alloys with unique magnetic and mechanical properties while reducing or eliminating the need for environmentally critical elements such as cobalt. We establish a long overdue cooperation among academic and industrial leaders in the fields of metallic glass design and processing, mechanical and magnetic testing, quality control and certification as well as design and testing of electrical machines. Through the design of powdered amorphous soft-magnetic alloys, optimization of SLM process parameters and verification of resulting electromagnetic devices, we will achieve major breakthroughs in the flexible and energy-efficient production of superior soft-magnetic components thereby enhancing the energy efficiency of electrical devices and thus substantially contributing to the European Green Deal.

Disclaimer

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

"The project AM2SoftMag has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Pathfinder-Open Programme under grant agreement No 101046870"
"The project AM2SoftMag has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Pathfinder-Open Programme under grant agreement No 101046870"
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AM2SoftMag - Additive Manufacturing of Amorphous Metals for Soft Magnetics

AM2SoftMag Work Plan

Work Packages Work Leads
WP1 Project management | Leader: USAAR
Contact Person: Chris May


1.1 Project coordination and risk management
1.2 Administrative and financial management
WP2 Dissemination, exploitation and communication | Leader: Heraeus AMLOY Technologies GmbH
Contact Person: Celine Ramesch

2.1 Dissemination and exploitation
2.2 Communication and public engagement
WP3 Alloy development | Leader: USAAR (LMW)
Contact Person: Ralf Busch
Researcher: Amirhossein Ghavimi

3.1 Alloy system selection and comprehensive development
3.2 Alloy composition refinement
3.3 Master-alloy processing technology
3.4 Properties of devolped alloys
WP4 Process development | Leader: IMDEA
Contact Person: Maria Teresa Perez-Prado
Researcher: Saumya Sadanand & Marcos Rodriguez

4.1 Powder processing and characterisation
4.2 Thermoplastic forming studies
4.3 Selective laser melting basic studies
4.4 Post-processing characterisation, optimisation & evaluation
WP5

AM-application development | Leader: Heraeus AMLOY Technologies GmbH
Contact Person: Hans-Jürgen Wachter
Researcher: Lena Thorsson & Eugen Milke

5.1 Definition of application requirements
5.2 Matrix and geomety design for AM process
5.3 Advanced AM-processing development
5.4 Post-processing, characterisation & evaluation

WP6 Electromagnetic properties assessment | Leader: INRIM
Contact Person: Paola Tiberto
Researcher: Purbasha Sharangi, Gabriele Barrera, Enzo Ferrara & Uma Rajput

6.1 General electromagnetic properties vs processing
6.2 Advanced magnetic testing as a function of processing route
6.3 Guidelines for magnetic testing for complex parts
6.4 Energy efficiency, reliability and sustainability
WP7 Proof of principle electrical machines | Leader: USAAR (LAT)
Contact Person: Matthias Nienhaus
Researcher: Carsten Klein

7.1 AM-specific meso-scale design features and processes
7.2 Dimension and optimise electromagnetic system designs
7.3 Produce SMM components ans assemble devices
7.4 Test, characterise and document machine performance
WP8 Powder development | Leader: AMAZEMET
Contact Person: Tomasz Choma
Researcher: Łukasz Żrodowski & Bartosz Morończyk

8.1 Master alloy production and processing upscaling
8.2 Plasma-ultrasonic powder atomization and characterization
8.3 Customizing of rePowder system and powder characterization
8.4 Up-scale of rePowder system for Fe-based amorphous powder