A significant trend in the automotive industry is the shift to lightweight design. This shift has led to the use of different materials such as aluminium. In the electric motor market this can cause problems due to difference in the thermal expansion coefficients. The aluminium housing will expand at a higher rate than the iron-based stator which can cause a drop off in retention force and, therefore, result in a dislodged stator.
Other issues are associated with the assembly process where stator mounting solutions such as the use of adhesive or shrink-fitting require energy-intensive heating steps.
RENCOL® technology offers solutions to these issues, aided by system level simulation, optimising the stator joint design. The competency offered by Saint-Gobain has led to simplified assembly processes and better stator retention forces throughout the operating temperature range and an increase of the temperature range.
These benefits are achieved without sacrificing concentricity of the stator and rotor, enabling an efficient system in terms of input power and functional output power.