Motor Insulation Material Development for Improved Power Density

The propulsion motors under development for use on the U.S. Navy�s next generation destroyer, the DDG 1000, are in need of novel insulating resins that exceed the performance properties of the currently available vacuum-pressure impregnation (VPI) resins. Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc. proposes a new high temperature resin that exhibits excellent dielectric properties, can withstand short rise-time voltage surges associated with the use of a pulse width modulated (PWM) drive, and will dissipate thermal energy quickly away from the coils in order to effectively increase the power density for the motor. The resin will be engineered to be fully compatible with the VPI process. During Phase I, TRI/Austin will be teaming with a manufacturer of Naval advanced induction propulsion motors. This corporation will provide technical assistance and finite element analysis modeling of the proposed resin. An established supplier of VPI resins to the military will also be involved as a technical advisor and potential commercialization partner. The feasibility of the new resin will be proven through the generation of in-house experimental thermal, electrical, and physical property data followed by computational modeling to show predicted behavior in a large-scale motor.