Aligned with the strategic priority of societal mobility electrification, OPTES will design the NOES grades for next-generation sustainable electric machines for automotive traction applications. The ambitious goal is to achieve a balance among the 3 primary functional properties of NOES: losses, magnetic polarisation, and mechanical strength. This will be done by optimising the 3 key control axes of NOES: alloying, texture and final thickness, to meet the specifications of next-generation traction motors.

The project is organised in 3 sequential but overlapping phases. The first phase involves defining the specifications of the reference and next-generation traction motors, by implementing currently available NOES properties. The reference motor will be modelled and then optimised to estimate the first correlation between the NOES functional properties and motor performance. In the second phase, there are two parallel activities. In the first, the motor will be optimised using a virtual NOES database consisting of 100 combinations considering a wide range of alloys, textures, and thicknesses. In the second activity, the processability of these materials will be thoroughly examined and further characterised. Both activities will lead to the production of the 3 most optimal grades. The third phase covers the manufacturability of the final product, focusing on punching. Final virtual motor prototyping including a life cycle assessment will be done and compared to the reference machine.

Never before has such a combination of multidisciplinary competencies been brought together to maximise the performance of traction motors. This will translate into energy savings and environmentally friendly vehicles. The project will bring scientific advances in metallurgy, texture evolution, steel processing, and manufacturability. The results of this project will allow future production of optimised next-gen. electric machines in Europe.