Toshiba Corporation has developed a new magnetic material with characteristics that deliver major improvements in motor efficiency at minimum cost, and with the potential to win significant reductions in power consumption. The company says the material is suitable for train drive systems, automobiles, robots and other applications requiring high reliability. Motors account for approximately half of the world’s electric power consumption. Any advance that can improve their efficiency promises major benefits. Toshiba’s new material greatly boosts motor energy conversion efficiency when it is used as the wedges in a motor, particularly in a medium to large induction motor. In induction motors, the rotating magnetic field of the stator induces a current in the rotor, and the rotor is rotated due to the electromagnetic force by the induced current. This system configuration is simple and inexpensive, and also offers excellent maintainability. In contrast, a permanent magnet synchronous motor is rotated […]