Research project title
High power density motors for aeronautics manufactured by cold spraying (master's and Ph.D. projects)
Education level
Master or doctorate
Director/co-director
Director: Frédéric Sirois
Co-director(s): David Ménard
End of display
December 31, 2024
Areas of expertise
Materials science and technology
Electrical and electronic engineering
Energy conversion and distribution
Modelling, simulation and finite element methods
Aerospace, aeronautical and automotive engineering
Unit(s) and department(s)
Department of Electrical Engineering
Laboratory of Superconductivity and Magnetism (LSM)
Conditions
Background: Undergraduate and/or Master’s degree in a field comprising a strong component of electrical engineering, engineering physics or mechanical engineering.
Skills and interests: Interest in transport electrification and associated technologies (here permanent magnet motors), as well as in advanced fabrication techniques (here cold spraying) and in modeling (an experience with finite elements is an asset). Ability to communicate with industrial partners.
Personal qualities: Autonomy, critical thinking and creativity. Recommendations from referees (to be sent with the application form) should provide specific comments on each of these aspects.
Working language: The candidate should possess at least a good level of English, both written and oral. He should also ideally comfortable in French, since Polytechnique Montréal is a French-speaking institution. For master’s projects, the knowledge of French is mandatory.
Detailed description
This project is carried out in partnership between Polytechnique Montréal, the National Science Council of Canada (NRC) in Boucherville, the aeronautics manufacturer Safran, the firm Altair Engineering and the Quebec SME Polycontrols.
The objective of the project is to push the limits of the cold spray additive manufacturing process to manufacture electric motor parts with high power density and high operating temperature (~300 degrees Celcius) for the field of aeronautics, which involves using new materials in the cold spray process. More specifically, ferromagnetic composites based on samarium-cobalt + aluminum (SmCo/Al) and/or copper alloys capable of operating without loss of performance or accelerated degradation at high temperature are envisioned.
The idea is to pave the way for new economically competitive solutions to reduce GHG emissions in air transport by switching to electric or hybrid propulsion, which requires high power-to-weight electric motors. In this project, the partners will work collaboratively to make significant advances in permanent magnet and/or asynchronous motor concepts with copper rotors based on innovative and unconventional geometries, not achievable by current manufacturing processes.
There are 6 positions to be filled within the framework of this project, i.e. 2 master's (M) positions and 6 doctoral (PhD) positions. Each of these positions is described below:
Master’s 1: Development of a magnetization system by high intensity pulsed magnetic field (> 5 tesla) for large permanent magnets
Master’s 2: Thermomechanical stability of copper alloys deposited by cold spraying to manufacture electric motor rotors
PhD 1: Optimization of the cold spraying process to manufacture permanent magnets based on SmCo/Al of industrial quality: relationship between properties and parameters of the manufacturing process (this position has already been filled)
PhD 2: Mathematical and physical models for the prediction of the magnetic and mechanical properties of hard magnetic materials manufactured by cold spraying from their microstructure characterized by electron microscopy (project rather fundamental by nature)
PhD 3: Concepts of permanent magnets with complex shapes manufactured by cold spraying for stators of electric motors: simulations of magnetization patterns and implementation in the laboratory with a pulsed magnetic field magnetization system
PhD 4: Topological optimization of electric motors manufactured by cold spraying: exploration of rotors/stators of unconventional shapes as well as large permanent magnet rotors with complex magnetization patterns
All Masters and PhD students will work closely with industrial partners throughout the project, and will be expected to spend time with partners as needed (NRC and Polycontrols: Bourcherville, QC; Safran: Paris region, France; Altair: Grenoble region, France).
Please contact Professor Frédéric Sirois (https://www.polymtl.ca/expertises/en/sirois-frederic) for more information about the above projects. PLEASE PROVIDE a CV, your MARK TRANSCRIPTS, and a LETTER OF MOTIVATION which also briefly explains your background, otherwise your application will not be considered.
Financing possibility
A financial support is available for the successful candidates. The amount of financial assistance is 20,000 $ (Canadian dollars) per year for the Master’s (maximum 2 years), and 24,000 $ per year for the Ph.D. (maximum 4 years), in order to allow the candidate to work full time on his research.
A student who obtains his own scholarship (NSERC, FRQNT or other) will be granted a bonus (typically 25% of the amount of the scholarship, to discuss case by case).
Frédéric Sirois
Full Professor
