Powering Sea to Space
By Kaitlyn Landram
Michael McHenry’s latest advancement on cobalt-based metal amorphous nanocomposite materials (MANCs) and their processing makes smaller, more powerful motors possible.
Magnetic materials pose major limitations in power electronic applications at high frequencies, but Materials Science and Engineering Professor Michael McHenry and alums Paul Ohodnicki, Alex Leary, and Sam Kernion have made advancements on materials and their processing that can greatly increase motor and transformer efficiencies.
Power electronics, like motors, gain power through speed. The speed, however, requires the magnetic materials to switch at a higher frequency and this causes magnetic (eddy current) loss. Magnetic losses put off heat and that heat limits the motor’s overall performance. So, reducing magnetic loss is pivotal in paving the way for smaller motors with higher power.
Powering sea to space