What Are Motor Laminations?

Motor laminations are thin sheets of steel stamped in the shape of a rotor or stator. These laminations are then stacked to form the core of an electric motor’s rotor and stator. Lamination stacks minimize heat and energy loss, enabling efficient devices with improved performance and better control over their magnetic properties.

We will explore how manufacturers use lamination heat treating to create components like electric motor cores to suit numerous applications.

Motor Laminations

Motor laminations are an essential component of electric motors, forming the rotor and stator core. Thin sheets of metal are stacked, bonded, riveted, or welded to form a core. Rather than using a solid block of metal, laminations are made from individual sheets to minimize eddy current losses. 

The electric motor manufacturing industry depends on motor lamination stamping using specialized dies, presses, and techniques to deliver the intended lamination properties. The most common stock material used in motor laminations is electric steel sheets. These materials allow us to form components that meet precise specifications and dimensions with reliability and efficiency. 

Thomson Lamination’s precision metal stamping capabilities deliver more than conventional stamping processes. We use custom tools and dies to fabricate specific components from sheet metal. Precision metal stamping allows us to efficiently produce high volumes of components with optimal precision and accuracy, including mission-critical components such as aerospace, military and medical parts.

Lamination Stacks

Lamination stacks are critical components of electric motor and generator rotors and stators. They are constructed from high performing materials with high wear resistance, such as silicon steel, cobalt-iron, and nickel-iron. Thomson Lamination fabricates lamination stacks using high-precision computer-controlled laser cutting, punching, and stamping processes.

Benefits of Using Lamination Stacks

Lamination stacks offer several benefits. Their material construction delivers the following advantages:

• Increased Efficiency. Instead of a solid block of metal, lamination stacks are comprised of several thin sheets. This results in fewer eddy currents, electrical currents that result in heat and energy loss as they circulate within the metal. Using multiple thin metal sheets to construct lamination stacks reduces energy waste.
• Improved Motor Performance. Lamination stacks deliver efficient and cool electric motor operations. Operators benefit from improved motor performance, power output, and torque.
• Material Versatility. Lamination stacks allow for various material options compared to solid core construction. Electric motor manufacturers can use thin-gauge electrical steel, nickel, cobalt, and silicon steel to produce lamination stacks that deliver optimal performance and weight at a lower cost.
• Precise Control of Magnetic Properties. Material selection also allows manufacturers to optimize the motor core’s magnetic properties. Lamination stacks with precise control over the magnetic properties deliver custom-engineered electric motors with the desired efficiency and torque.
• Potential Weight Reduction. Lamination stacks can be produced with thin sheets of metal, making them lighter than solid cores. They are ideal for applications that benefit from weight reduction, such as aerospace and electric vehicle components.

Applications of Lamination Stacks

Various applications depend on lamination stacks for efficiency and performance, including:

• Aerospace. Lamination stacks are essential to aerospace component manufacturing. Composite structures for aerospace applications can be produced using several layers of bonded material, offering lightweight and strong components for aerospace vehicles, spacecraft, and airplanes.
• Medical. The medical industry depends on laminations to combine materials when manufacturing medical equipment and devices with the form factor, efficiency, and performance needed in this industry. Examples: Surgical drills and saws, surgical systems (davinci machine),ventilators, and respirators
• Energy. The energy industry uses lamination stacks to produce composite materials with optimal properties. Layers of material are bonded together to create a component with increased energy efficiency, durability, and performance. Examples: Down-hole drilling, wind turbines, generators, actuators, and hydraulic systems

Lamination Services From Thomson Lamination

Thomson Lamination Company has been assembling laminations for custom-stamped electrical components since 1964. Clients in energy, medical, and aerospace applications depend on our tight tolerances and annealing services for mission-critical rotational components. 

Contact us or request a quote to speak with a specialist about your lamination needs.