Saarland University 3D Prints Metallic Glass Motor Components for Higher Efficiency

The Problem with Traditional Motor Materials

Electric motors lose energy during operation due to "iron loss" — when magnetic fields inside the motor constantly change direction, tiny magnetic elements in conventional crystalline metals must flip orientation, creating internal friction and wasting energy as heat.

"The losses decrease dramatically when the crystallites are extremely small — nanocrystalline — or when the crystal structure is absent altogether, i.e. the material is glass-like or amorphous," explains Professor Ralf Busch from Saarland University.

Metallic Glass: The Solution

The team is developing metallic glass alloys containing 70-80% iron that lack the crystal lattice structure found in conventional metals. Because metallic glasses have no crystallites, the magnetic regions (Weiss domains) are not obstructed and can reorient freely when the magnetic field changes, dramatically reducing energy waste.

Finding suitable alloys required testing hundreds of compositions across five chemical elements. The researchers identified three alloys that resist crystallization and work with 3D printing processes.

3D Printing the Future

The team uses laser powder bed fusion to build motor components layer by layer, with each layer measuring 50 micrometers thick. The AM2SoftMag project includes partners from Spain, Italy, Poland, and Germany, with industrial partner Heraeus AMLOY Technologies handling the 3D printing of magnetic components.

"The challenge now is to develop the process so that it works reliably in practice and at industrial scale," notes Professor Matthias Nienhaus, a drive technology expert at Saarland University.

Funding

The European Union is supporting the research with €3.5 million in funding. The technology could significantly improve efficiency in electric motors used in devices like drones and e-bikes.