Behind The Scenes – Arclin European Technical Center

The insulation for 800 volt EV motors and high frequency transformers now faces stress levels that were unthinkable a decade ago. This lab proves new systems by combining thermal, electrical, mechanical and chemical aging at once.

Inside the Arclin European Technical Center in Meyrin near Geneva, Switzerland, engineers from the Nomex® electrical lab walk through how they age and characterize insulation for motors and transformers. The tour covers the Faraday cage for PDIV testing, the pulse voltage bay for silicon carbide inverters, and the analytical lab for tomography and microscopy. The lab opened in 2011 and now marks its 15th year, working with sister labs in the US and China plus universities, value chain partners and motor manufacturers.

Electrification is accelerating, renewable energy is scaling, and AI computing power is growing at unprecedented speed. Automotive brought massive production scale, unique load profiles, power density demands, power electronics and new cooling methods. Industrial motor insulation practice had not explored those needs in depth. At the same time, IEC TS 61857-42 now defines high performance requirements for electrical insulation systems in EV traction motors, including repetitive partial discharge inception voltage.

• 800 volt traction systems with slew rates beyond 50 kV per microsecond need pulse endurance aging, not single stress tests, to compare insulation systems fairly
• RPDIV plus electric withstand testing on formette, motorette and full stator samples verifies that a design will meet lifetime targets under IEC TS 61857-42 and IEC 61857-41
• PDIV measured under temperature and reduced pressure brings aircraft electrification and high altitude effects into motor sizing decisions
• High resolution X-ray tomography finds voids, non uniform layers and inclusions in bonded Nomex® spacers that conventional inspection misses, which protects mechanical strength and service life
• Digital microscopy plus LIBS gives fast surface analysis and elemental identification for cracks, delamination, contamination and porosity
• In transformers, Nomex® paper and pressboard enable more compact windings, lower material use and higher resistance to periodic overloads, from wind turbine units to distribution and power transformers, when converted by partners into coated papers, diamond dotted papers and machined pressboard components

In this video:

• Jean-Claude Duart – OEM Account Manager
• Giorgio Vercesi – Business Development Manager
• Yannick Ittner – Application Development Engineer, eMotor
• Benjamin Gaussens – Nomex Principal Investigator EMEA
• Sebastien Tindillier – Senior Technologist Nomex
• Bernice Remy – Application Development Engineer
• Radoslaw Szewczyk – Technical Service & Development, Nomex Energy Solutions
• Alberto Ferreras – EMEA Regional Market Leader