Electric scroll-compressor drives are commonly used for e.g. home appliance cooling units. The recent development of hybrid cars with internal combustion engine in combination with electrical propulsion requires new solutions to be able to cool the passenger compartment of cars at stand-still. Both application areas demand efficient motor drives to reach good economy and efficient use of limited battery power as well as competitive volume/weight for a given output. The BLDC motor is a controllable and efficient solution. A major part of the motor is the soft-magnetic core. The powder based Somaloy® material shows high resistivity and induction as the result of engineered iron particles with in-organic coating. The unique features of compacted Somaloy® components can be utilized to enhance the shape and total volume of the BLDC motor with at least maintained efficiency compared to the use of traditional laminated steel sheet cores. A careful design of the Somaloy® components can also simplify assembly and positively influence the coil configuration. This study shows a comparison between a typical laminated BLDC motor and a redesigned, Somaloy® based version adapted for a scroll-compressor application.

A high nitrogen PM tool steel has shown to have an excellent galling resistance due to the introduction of a high amount of a low friction phase predominantly consisting of VN. Tool making and heat treatment are according to standard procedures. An increase of tool life of more than two times compared to ordinary tool steels is found. Furthermore, the new low friction tool steel shows a potential for sintered parts with higher densities through the applica bility of increased compaction pressure or minimized lubricant amount.