The ExOne Company is collaborating with Maxxwell Motors on development of a unique copper e-winding design for its innovative axial flux electric motors, which can be used in electric cars as well as a range of other heavy-duty vehicles and industrial devices. Optimized copper windings and rotors in electric motors are among the factors enabling the automotive industry’s transition to hybrid and pure electric power vehicles. However, current methods of manufacturing the windings are costly, inefficient, and limit designs in a way that also limits their performance. ExOne and Maxxwell have successfully proved out a new concept for binder jet 3D printing a high-efficiency design in copper that eliminates many of the challenges that come with traditional manufacturing. Additional development and testing are now underway. Ultimately, Maxxwell’s goal is to binder jet 3D print winding assemblies as a monolithic piece, eliminating the need for coil wrapping, bending, tooling, and welding of individual parts together. When produced with binder jet 3D printing, the final part would require less manufacturing steps and energy utilization, as well as less material waste to produce – also resulting in components that are more efficient and deliver improved performance. What’s more, high-speed binder jetting is relatively affordable.