Development of a high power density rotor

High specific power electric machines are crucial to enabling electric and hybrid-electric aircraft. In order to meet this need, a high specific power electric machine with an unconventional topology is being developed. The topology creates mechanical challenges including expansion due to high speed, and thin radial builds that affect rotordynamics. Similarly, the design creates thermal challenges, of which extracting heat from a small geometry, and the difficulty of estimating windage losses because of the high speed and large diameter, are two. These challenges have been addressed through analytical design and a hardware prototype has been validated through testing. Through this analysis and testing it has been determined that this high specific power electric machine will not fly apart or burn up under the expected operating conditions