New motor design enables customer-specific drives for confined spaces

The motors can be designed to meet customer-specific requirements and, thanks to their design and innovative assembly concept, offer advantages in terms of installation space, system integration, and process costs.

In many applications, there is a growing demand for powerful electric motors, even though the available installation space, especially in the axial direction, is limited. At the same time, drives, as the heart of mechatronic systems, must meet high requirements in terms of dynamics, efficiency, and integration.

In the industry, this challenge has often been solved by radial flux-based motor concepts based on stacked laminated core geometries. Customer-specific adaptations for small to medium quantities are often only possible to a limited extent. Typically, this involves varying the overall length and adapting the winding design. In addition, there are sometimes high tooling costs, for example for punching tools, which make it difficult to achieve cost-effective individual geometries.

The electric motor industry in transition

The electric motor industry combines a long engineering tradition with strong pressure to innovate due to electrification and automation. The market landscape ranges from specialized manufacturers of special motors to volume-driven corporations with very high production volumes. At the same time, developers benefit from a mature supply industry and a high degree of standardisation in peripheral components such as sensors, connectors, and cooling systems, which accelerates integration into overall systems.

Axial flow motors from WEBER-HYDRAULIK are characterised by a particularly compact, disc-shaped geometry. Compared to classic radial flow motors, they can be integrated in a space-saving manner when the axial installation length is critical. This gives designers additional freedom in system integration, for example when the motor, mechanics and electronics need to be brought closer together.

Using the example of electric hydraulic and pump units, WEBER-HYDRAULIK is pursuing an approach that reduces the classic separation of components. The goal is a highly integrated solution in which the motor, power electronics, and pump unit can be combined in a single structure. This reduces volume and weight while also reducing cabling and interface costs.

Another special feature is an ironless rotor, which reduces inertia. This supports high operating dynamics during speed changes, for example in pump applications or dynamic control loops.

Plug-and-play installation and tested pre-assembly

A plug-and-play assembly concept is provided to simplify integration into the customer's application: The unit is supplied as a tested pre-assembly module. The approach aims to simplify final assembly in customer production, reduce process costs, and minimise potential sources of error by using fewer individual components. End-of-line tests support standardised quality assurance prior to integration.

"Axial flow motors enable compact drive solutions when installation space and system integration are crucial. The customer-specific design and integration concept allow development and assembly costs in electrohydraulic applications to be reduced in a targeted manner," says Dietmar Andessner, Head of Axial Flow Motor Development at WEBER-HYDRAULIK.