High Damping Resin for Impregnation of Propulsion Scale Electric Machinery

A new damping resin is needed for the impregnation of the permanent magnet motor electric drive system that is currently being developed for the U.S. Navy's new DD(X) destroyer. TRI/Austin proposes the use of a specially-modified epoxy resin. The unique modifiers will serve to increase the viscoelasticity of the base resin, thereby producing a polymer with higher damping abilities. Preliminary studies have produced resins with loss factors greater than 0.75 for the temperature range of 80-120°C at a 120 Hz frequency. The epoxy modification provides high temperature stability that will be necessary for extended operation in a motor assembly as well as superior corrosion resistance in the harsh marine environment. Modal analysis and finite elemental analysis (FEA) will be utilized to determine the damping efficiency of the resin. The resin will be compatible with the vacuum-pressure impregnation (VPI) method. TRI/Austin is teaming with the designer and manufacturer of the electric drive system for the new-generation DD(X) destroyer in order to produce a fully-compatible resin system for this specific application. Their expertise in the system's requirement and TRI's proficiency in resin development will result in a feasible damping material at the end of the Phase I effort.