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As electric motors push into higher power densities, thermal management has become the critical bottleneck limiting performance. Every watt lost to core losses becomes heat that must be managed, directly impacting system reliability and efficiency. In aerospace, defense, and medical and advanced industrial applications, thermal constraints often determine the ultimate performance ceiling.
The challenge intensifies at higher frequencies and flux densities. Most designers opt for alloys such as Carpenter Electrification’s Hiperco 50 for power dense motors. In motors and generators, these iron-cobalt grades have been proven to offer 25% higher torque density and 25% higher power density as compared to silicon-iron grades. However, despite their impressive performance, iron-cobalt grades with very low loss were limited in yield strength. This limitation posed a challenge for applications requiring both high strength and low loss. Hiperco Prime, produced using proprietary processing methods, resolves this limitation for stator stack components.
Understanding Core Loss and Its Impact
Core loss represents wasted energy that manifests as heat in the stator core. These losses increase with operating frequency and magnetic flux density. Even minor improvements in core loss yield significant benefits in power density, efficiency, and thermal management.
For stator applications, minimizing core loss is paramount. The stator experiences the full alternating magnetic field at operating frequency, making it the primary source of magnetic losses. A material that maintains high magnetic induction while dramatically reducing these losses represents a breakthrough in motor design.
Hiperco® Prime Plus: A New Benchmark for Stator Materials
Hiperco® Prime Plus is a specialized iron-cobalt alloy engineered for stator applications where efficiency and thermal performance are critical. This material delivers approximately 30% lower core loss compared to standard Hiperco® grades while maintaining high magnetic induction properties.
Hiperco® Prime Plus is manufactured using proprietary processing techniques that result in optimal properties. This new alloy provides the required yield strength for stators and significantly reduces both hysteresis and eddy current losses without compromising magnetic saturation.
Read More: Hiperco® Prime Plus | Low Core Loss Stator Material for High-Efficiency Motors
Quantifiable Performance Advantages
The performance improvements of Hiperco® Prime Plus translate directly to measurable benefits:
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Efficiency Gains: 25% reduction in core loss means more electrical energy converts to mechanical power. This translates to 2-5% higher continuous power output from the same form factor, as compared to standard Hiperco at the same yield strength.
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Power Density: Prime Plus supports higher speed and higher frequency applications. The core loss benefits translate to 2-5% higher continuous power output and ~25% more torque density from the same form factor.
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Thermal Benefits: Lower losses mean lower motor temperatures, with up to 100F reduction in operating temperatures, with cascading benefits in higher continuous power and reduced cooling requirements.
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Reliability: Cooler operation directly improves reliability and component life. Reduced thermal cycling stress can extend maintenance intervals.
Application Specific Benefits
Hiperco® Prime Plus creates transformative improvements across multiple industries:
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Aerospace and eVTOL: Enables compact generator and motor designs with reduced cooling requirements. Improved propulsion motor performance directly impacts range and payload capacity. For eVTOL applications, efficiency improvements extend flight time or increase passenger capacity.
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Defense Systems: Enables high-speed generators and motors for aircraft, weaponry, and naval power systems where performance is non-negotiable.
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Medical Systems: Surgical robots and surgical power tools incorporate miniaturized motors that often operate at very high rotational speeds.
Design Considerations for Implementation
Several factors maximize the benefits of Hiperco® Prime Plus:
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Lamination Thickness: Available in various thicknesses to optimize the balance between eddy current losses and manufacturing. Thinner laminations further reduce high-frequency losses.
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Stacking Factors: Excellent process control of lamination surface quality, staking and adhesive enables high stacking factors, maximizing active magnetic material.
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Thermal Design: While Prime Plus reduces heat generation, thermal design should still be optimized to leverage cooler operation. Thermal management with either passive or active cooling approaches may be possible, depending upon motor design.
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Frequency Optimization: Low-loss characteristics are particularly advantageous at higher frequencies, ideal for high-speed motor designs.
Manufacturing and Quality Considerations
Hiperco® Prime Plus is produced through controlled processes, ensuring consistent properties. The proprietary manufacturing process creates an alloy with optimal combination of magnetic and mechanical performance.
The material maintains excellent punchability and fabrication characteristics for complex stator geometries. Compatibility with standard manufacturing processes allows scale-up without significant production changes.
Our proprietary finished stack testing methodology ensures stators and rotors perform as designed. This approach represents a significant advancement over ASTM loose ring testing commonly used in the industry to certify material properties.
Read More: The Carpenter Electrification Difference in High Performance Solutions
The Path Forward
Hiperco® Prime Plus advances stator material technology, enabling designs previously constrained by thermal limitations. By reducing core losses while maintaining high induction, and the required tensile strength, this material opens new possibilities across industries, from aerospace propulsion to defense systems to advanced medical and industrial applications providing the foundation for more powerful motors that run cooler, more efficiently, and more reliably.
Hiperco Prime Plus advances the state-of-the-art in power dense motor performance, with 30% lower core loss and ~25% higher torque density as compared to standard Hiperco.