Micro-Magnetic Driven Design of Multi-Component Magnetic Alloys for Advanced Electric Propulsion

Electric based propulsion has emerged as a strategic investment for NASA Aeronautics for the design and implementation of ultra-efficient aircraft to assist our nation in the transition to low-carbon propulsion. In electric motors, magnetic materials assist in the conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy. During this conversion, alternating current energy losses occur which would be substantially reduced through the proposed development of a new class of (Fe,Co)-based amorphous and nanocrystalline magnetic composites. Such new materials will be a key requirement for NASA as it aims to improve the efficiency of electric motors that scale from the kilowatt to megawatt levels as outlined in NASA’s next generation electrical and hybrid aircraft technical readiness plan. To provide a systematic development of these alloys, faculty at The University of Alabama (UA) will team with Glenn Research Center (GRC) scientists and engineers to create a synergistic partnership that leverages expertise and infrastructure at each institution. UA will lead a materials-by-design approach based on atomistic and micro-magnetic models that will predict the optimal phase distributions within these magnetic composites. Through the use of modern computational tools, we will be able to accelerate the experimental direction of processing of these alloys that will be done in partnership at the NASA facility. To assist NASA’s processing control needed to achieve the modeled composite microstructures, UA will provided targeted phase transformation and kinetic studies of crystallization that will quantify the effects of annealing temperature and times on microstructural evolution. Furthermore, the analytical characterization of the materials will be forward fed back to our models to accurately capture the physics that gives rise to various magnetic attributes. Through joint UA-NASA magnetic characterization, we will verify, validate, and refine our models to the physically measured properties, with UA providing unique broadband thermomagnetic resonance studies that will reveal the loss performance in our alloys. This research positions UA-NASA as a formidable leader in nanocomposite magnetic material development through a closed loop interaction of modeling-processing-characterization. Through this research, the national workforce development in science and engineering will be strengthened by supporting the rising generation of STEM students as well as outreach programs that will inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

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