Impact of Copper Matrix Materials on the Performance of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

The carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene incorporated copper (Graphene/Cu) composite conductors have the potentials to improve performances of electric machines, which have drawn much attention around the world. The properties of copper matrix material are different from copper in terms of electrical conductivity, mass density, and thermal conductivity. One of the properties of interest is the high electrical conductivity. However, the amount of composite material simple is limited due to the current processing and manufacturing. In this paper, the variation of material resistivity with temperature is measured based on a Graphene/Cu sample. With the experimental measurement data and the material properties available in the literature, this paper discusses the impacts of high conductivity materials on permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) performances.