Simon Spreng

Development of an Adjustable Measuring System for Electrical Consumptions in Production

The establishment of green products and a sustainable production increasingly affects corporate competitiveness, as an efficient production does not only affect the energy costs, but also improves the company image. As the importance of renewable energy sources increases, mainly providing unsteady energy levels, load management of manufacturing and assembly lines fades into spotlight. For this purpose, proper measuring equipment is required, being able to log and evaluate varying energy loads.This paper entails an approach being able to automatically measure and process electric load profiles. Hereby, all important hardware components with the belonging requirements as well as the software constitution are described.

Evaluation of economic and ecologic potential of induction heating in the context of insulation systems within electric drives

Resin applications have always been found within the production of electric drives. Replacing natural materials like tar and rubber, industrial produced polymers quickly spread amongst all major components and manufacturing steps of electric machines. Today, thermosetting resins are mainly used within the disciplines of insulation and fixation of materials, manifesting in wire enamels, impregnation varnishes, potting resins and thermally curing adhesives. Numerous variations in topology create various challenges around these products. Thermal curing generally uses an excessive amount of energy when being conducted by oven heating or infrared radiation. Alternative and particularly energy-efficient technologies are available, but have yet to be investigated from a scientific perspective. Within the research project E|Solation, the E|Drive-Center at the institute FAPS of the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuernberg has aimed to investigate induction heating technology as an energy-saving method for thermosetting resin and powder coat curing to create insulating layers within an automated and flexible production of electric drives. Saving potential in the context of electrical sheet laminations has shown to be as high as up to 95% of electrical energy. In order to determine the value of this technology, simulative as well as empiric investigations have to be made to create a better understanding of how induction heating of sheet lamination works and to determine feasibility and integration into current production processes. The paper will present the latest outcomes of energy-focused value stream methods in order to determine applicable scenarios and production thresholds, in which induction heating can be a viable alternative to current heating technologies. In parallel, a simulative approach is under development to determine temperature distribution during heating process of laminated cores. The project aims for an extensive and fundamental knowledge of the process itself in order to determine optimal heating times and maximum efficiency.

Innovative and energy-efficient insulation technology for the production of electric drives

Resin applications have always been found within the production of electric drives. Replacing natural materials like tar and rubber, industrial produced polymers quickly spread amongst all major components and manufacturing steps of electric machines. Today, thermosetting resins are mainly used within the disciplines of insulation and fixation of materials, manifesting in wire enamels, impregnation varnishes, potting resins and thermally curing adhesives. As broad as their manifestations are the challenges around these products. Thermal curing generally uses an excessive amount of energy when being conducted by oven heating or infrared radiation. Alternative and particularly energy-efficient technologies are available, but have yet to be investigated from a scientific perspective. Within the research project E|Solation, the FAPS institute has aimed to investigate inductive heating technology as an energy-saving method for thermosetting resin and powder coat curing to create insulating layers within an automated and flexible production of electric drives. Saving potential in the context of electrical sheet laminations has shown to be as high as up to 95% of electrical energy. In order to determine the value of this technology, simulative as well as empiric investigations have to be made to create a better understanding of how inductive heating of sheet lamination works and to determine feasibility and integration into current production processes.

A new approach to integrate value stream analysis into a continuous energy efficiency improvement process

Due to increasing energy costs and the demand to lower CO2 emissions in the production, companies try to integrate a continuous energy efficiency improvement process. By implementing the energy value stream analysis, an optimized improvement process can be established which leads to a more efficient production. This approach shows a practically optimized method. It enables a holistic analysis of the energy productivity and helps to identify and to realize sustainable solutions. Furthermore this structured improvement process leads to a higher transparency of energy consumers.

Adaption of the ultrasonic welding technique to the process of joining insulated copper wires with standardized tubular cable lugs

Within the manufacturing of electric drives, the joining of resin insulated copper wires with standardized tubular cable lugs has to be seen as an important manufacturing step, as this process is one major reason for drive malfunctions - especially in case of mobile devices. Currently, the thermo-crimping technique is commonly used, because it combines high process stability with short tact times. However, the thermo-crimping tools show strong wearing within short periods, as the required heat to skin the insulated copper wires has to be supplied from the electrodes themselves. Therefore, the electrode materials have to face simultaneously high pressures and temperatures up to 650°C, resulting in highly frequent setup processes and corresponding costs. For this reason, a new technique to join insulated copper wires with cable lugs, based on the ultrasonic welding procedure, was investigated at the department FAPS. The following paper describes the explored results regarding the technique of ultrasonic welding. Hereby, the new technology is compared with the thermo-crimping process concerning the joint quality, tact time and tool wearing.

Evaluation of energy efficient joining processes in the field of electric drives manufacturing considering quality aspects

The implementation of green products and matching manufacturing processes increasingly attract public attention. Therefore, the institute FAPS analyzed the joining process as it is identified to be one of the major energy consumers in the context of electric drives manufacturing. The present approach introduces a statistically developed methodology to predict the energy consumption and the resulting connection quality of one of the major, currently available joining techniques. Therefore an analytical model was developed, which was afterwards used to optimize the parameter settings of an industrial cooperation partner.

Automatisierte Erweiterung bestehender Materialflusssimulationen durch Energieaspekte

Kurzfassung Angesichts des zunehmenden gesellschaftlichen Bewusstseins für Belange der CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) wird der Produktionsfaktor Energie nicht nur kostspieliger, sondern beeinflusst ebenso das Image des Unternehmens. Um die resultierenden Forderungen an die Produktion realisieren zu können, bieten sich Simulationen an, da sie ohne Unterbrechung der Produktion virtuell Energieverbräuche aufdecken.

Determination of the prospective energy consumption of manufacturing technologies with methods-energy measurement (MEM)

The reduction of energy costs of manufacturing technologies is both an important and current objective for factory operators. But mostly, this idea to reduce the energy consumption is being implemented after the manufacturing technologies are installed. However, it would be more advantageous if efforts were made to save energy during the early planning process. To achieve an estimation of the energy consumption in this early planning stage, a new suitable forecast method is required. Therefore, this paper shows how the prospective energy consumption can be determined by using Methods-Energy Measurement (MEM). Based on the needs of production planners, future challenges and requirements for MEM are listed. Further-more, the concept of basic energy elements and their value determination techniques are introduced, and different possibilities are outlined and assessed. For an easier determination of the energy demands of a complex production cell or manufacturing equipment, standard equipment patterns will be designed. This template supports both planners and decision-makers to create reliable and standardized Resource Performance Indicators (RPI). Subsequently, the architecture of the MEM-calculation model is presented. This approach enables a holistic estimation of the energy consumption of manufacturing technologies and leads to higher levels of transparency. Furthermore, MEM contributes to identify and realize sustainable solutions in advance and as a result, increases the profitability of a factory.

Distributed condition monitoring systems in electric drives manufacturing

In industrial manufacturing, high system availability is the most effective lever for increasing productivity. For minimal downtimes, it is important to identify sources of errors at an early stage in order to perform scheduled maintenance. Especially in the field of electric drives manufacturing, the thermo-crimping process is one major technology to join insulated copper wires with belonging current carrying parts. However, due to its operating principle, this technology has to be associated with strong disadvantages. Primarily, the excessive tool abrasion leads to immoderate, difficult to plan maintenance operations. In order to address these challenges, this paper introduces a generic condition monitoring system, which is the enabler for predictive maintenance and online product quality monitoring in this area. By recognizing variations in energy consumption and process temperature, it is possible to determine the wear margin of electrodes and the joint quality during operation. According to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), the implementation relies on the communication standard Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA). Finally, verification and validation are performed in a case study.

Innovative Kontaktierungstechnologien im Elektromaschinenbau

Kurzfassung Im sich dynamisch entwickelnden Feld der elektrischen Antriebstechnik stellen neue, von der Automobilindustrie getriebene Motortopologien sowie die Forderung nach serienflexiblen Prozessen die zentralen Treiber zur Entwicklung innovativer Kontaktierungsverfahren dar. Die Arbeitsgruppe Kontaktierungstechnologien begegnet diesem Spannungsfeld mit einem multidimensionalen Ansatz, der aus der Weiterentwicklung bestehender und aus der Erforschung neuartiger Kontaktierungslösungen besteht.