Identification for Remanufacturing of a Synchronous Reluctance Machine Considering the Circular Economy Conditions

Abstract

Due to the growing pressure from governmental entities and customers in the European Union, Original Equipment Manufacturers are being pushed to design and manufacture sustainable and environmentally friendly products. A profitable industrial segment is expected to emerge from recycling end-of-life electric machines. This paper aims to identify an experimental synchronous reluctance machine with faulty copper windings to remanufacture the machine. The rewound design aims to achieve similar or improved characteristics and fit the novel requirements of the circular economy. The recyclability of the machine can be significantly increased by changing the copper windings to aluminum-based hairpin windings. The paper shows the geometrical, material, and winding identification plus finite element method-based analysis of the initial machine. The electric machine’s slot-filling factor can be improved using an appropriate aluminum-based hairpin winding design compared to the original, even in the case of standard slots where the sides of the slots are not parallel.