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Motors with Copper Rotors Can Cost Less to Produce
Lower Materials Cost + Smaller Frame Sizes = Double-Digit Savings 
But what about cost? What do copper-rotor motors cost to produce on a commercial scale? More to the point, how will the cost of "copper" motors compare with those of equivalent aluminum-rotor motors in mass production? We already know that a straight one-for-one substitution of copper for aluminum shaves production costs by between four and seven percent, thanks mainly to the shorter lamination stack often possible with copper. That's encouraging but not compelling, because simply substituting copper for aluminum without redesigning the motor doesn't take full advantage of copper’s benefits. In fact, motors for some applications cannot benefit from a direct substitution of copper, unless they undergo redesign as well. Also, direct substitution doesn't provide a fair comparison, because it creates motors that are merely similar but not functionally equivalent. A rigorous comparison of production costs for truly equivalent motors is obviously the key issue here. Copper's advantages, clear as they are, would find few champions, if high production costs priced copper motors out of high-volume markets. MORE >> |
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