NON-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEELS

FOR EV APPLICATIONS

Chris Jones, PhD

Senior Product Research Engineer
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
2023
AGENDA
• Introduction
• Material Production
• Material Properties
• Typical Properties
• Future Products

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INTRODUCTION

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CLIFFS’ ELECTRICAL STEEL INNOVATIONS

1903 1939 1942 1975 1986 2018

First electrical Commercialization First CARLITE 3, TRAN-COR® H DR®, TRAN-COR X, new gen
laser scribed with of high permeability,
steel for magnetic of grain-oriented decarburization of superior insulative grain oriented
10% fewer core
applications silicon steel steel in strip form coating electrical steel
losses

Si Si

CARLITE® Superior magnetic TRAN-COR® H, H-0 HF NOES for improved

First silicon HF-Series, new gen of
quality in CARLITE, improved magnetic and
electrical steel for Coating for high permeability
electrical steel for use
mechanical
continuous slab in electric vehicles
magnetic purposes electrical steels electrical steel performance in EV
casting

1905 1941 1971 1985 2005 2022

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ELECTRICAL STEEL BASICS
• Soft magnetic material
• Iron-silicon alloy with a silicon content of 0.5 to 3.5 %
• Excellent magnetic properties
• Low core loss and exciting power
• Final properties controlled by alloy content, process routing and
thickness

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GOES VS NOES
Grain oriented electrical steel Non-grain oriented electrical steel
(GOES) (NOES)

• Strong crystallographic texture • Weak crystallographic texture

• Highly anisotropic • Almost isotropic

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GOES PRODUCTS
• Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES)
• Used in stationary applications, such as power
distribution transformers
• Large grains (poor strength but good magnetics)
• Excellent magnetic properties in rolling direction

• Conventional grain oriented (< 5° of ideal (110)[001]):

• LITE CARLITE®: M-grades
• CARLITE®: Mill Anneal
• Highly grain oriented (< 2° of ideal (110)[001]):
 TRAN-COR®: H grades

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NOES PRODUCTS
• Non-grain-oriented Electrical Steel (NOES)
• Used in rotating applications, such as motors and generators
• Magnetic properties are virtually the same in all directions
• Smaller grains (better strength than GOES)

• NOES products:
• DI-MAX® M-grades
• MOTOR-MAX™ HF-grades

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ELECTRIC MOTOR BASICS
• Rotor
• Rotating part of the motor
• Magnets are placed or cast
into the rotor core (PM motor)

• Stator
• Stationary part of the motor
• A copper winding is wound
through the slots
• When current is applied to the
winding this induces a
magnetic field resulting in the
rotor rotating

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ELECTRIC MOTOR BASICS
• The rotor and the stator cores are made up of
electrical steel laminations

• A lamination is a single sheet of electrical steel

stamped into the rotor or stator geometry

• Typically, there are 300 (0.25 mm) or more

laminations per motor core depending on the
design

• These laminations are stacked and mechanically

fastened or welded to form the motor core

• There is also an insulative coating applied to both

sides of the steel sheet in coil form
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MATERIAL PRODUCTION

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ROUTING COMPARISON

Typical Cold Rolled Carbon Steel Routing

Two stage NOES Routing

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CHEMISTRY CONTROL IS IMPORTANT
Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Melt Shop

• Both integrated and EAF routing can be used

• Excellent control of alloy additions and tramp elements is needed to

produce desired magnetic properties
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MATERIAL PROPERTIES

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 MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
Core Loss [W/kg, W/lb] Induction [T]
• A measurement of the power lost • How easy it is to induce magnetic
when magnetizing the material flux in the material
• Lower is better • Higher is better
• Typically measured at 400 Hz, 1 T • Induction typically measured at
induction 5000 A/m applied field strength,
known as B50

Magnetic properties
measured commonly
measured using an
Epstein frame

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COMPONENTS OF CORE LOSS

Total core loss = Hysteresis loss + Eddy current loss

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HYSTERESIS LOSS
• Energy spent to reverse the B Saturation
magnetic domains as
alternating magnetic fields
are applied to the motor
core
• Loss = area bound by the
hysteresis loop
H = Applied field Coercivity H
B = Induced flux density

Magnetization curve (dotted) and hysteresis loop (solid) 17

EDDY CURRENT LOSS
• Contributes to core loss
• Magnetically induced electrical currents within
the steel

• Reduction methods
• Decreasing sheet thickness
• Increasing material resistivity
• Increasing material density

η = anomalous loss factor

B = magnetic field
𝜋𝜋 2 𝐵𝐵2 𝑡𝑡 2 𝑓𝑓 2 t = thickness
𝑃𝑃 = η f = frequency
6ρ𝐷𝐷 ρ = resistivity
D = density 18
VOLUME RESISTIVITY REFERENCE [μΩ•CM]

Pure Ag 1.6 μΩ-cm

Pure Cu 1.7 μΩ-cm
Pure Al 2.7 μΩ-cm

Pure Iron 10 μΩ-cm

Silicon steels 20-80 μΩ-cm

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CONVENTIONAL vs HIGH FREQUENCY NOES

• Conventional (Starter, Alternator)

• “M-” grades
• 50/60 Hz
• 2.1 – 5.3 W/kg (1.5 T, 60 Hz)
• Gauge: 0.35 - 0.65 mm thick
Increasing Value
• High Frequency (Traction Motor)
• “HF-” grades
• 200 - 1000 Hz
• 11.7 - 16 W/kg (1.0 T, 400 Hz)
• Gauge: 0.25, 0.27, 0.30 mm thick

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BASIC PROPERTIES - COATING

• Coating resistivity often measured using a

Franklin test

• Franklin current (A) measured -> resistivity

calculated

• Coating resistivity [Ω•cm2]

• Coatings prevent current from traveling
between motor laminations
• Higher is better
Franklin Resistivity Tester

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HIGH STRENGTH NEEDED FOR EV
APPLICATIONS
600
MOTOR-MAX™
HF NOES
Tensile Strength [MPa]

550

500
M15

450 From “Electrical Performance, Reliability Analysis, and Characterization” by

300 350 400 450 500 the 2017 U.S. Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office Annual
Merit Review

Yield Strength [MPa]

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TYPICAL PROPERTIES

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NON-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEELS –
TYPICAL PROPERTIES
Core Loss at
Nominal B50 Magnetic Electrical Yield Tensile
400 Hz, 1 T
Product Thickness, Induction at 5000 Resistivity, Strength, MPa Strength, MPa
induction,
mm (in) A/m, T µΩ•cm (ksi) (ksi)
W/kg (W/lb)

MOTOR-MAX™
0.25 (0.010) 14.5 (6.60) 1.68 54 - 56 350 (50.8) 450 (65.3)
25HF1550

MOTOR-MAX™
0.25 (0.010) 11.9 (5.40) 1.65 63 440 (63.8) 570 (82.7)
25HF1300

MOTOR-MAX™
0.27 (0.011) 12.5 (5.67) 1.65 63 440 (63.8) 570 (82.7)
27HF1500

MOTOR-MAX™
0.30 (0.012) 13.8 (6.30) 1.65 63 440 (63.8) 570 (82.7)
30HF1600

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NON-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEELS -
COATING OFFERINGS
C-5 Phosphate CARLITE® 3 ANTI-
C-5-R Chromium Free
Type Chromium Free ASTM STICK™ ASTM A976
ASTM A976 C-5
A976 C-5 C-5-A
Inorganic with some Inorganic with some
Components Inorganic
organic material organic material

Thickness (μm) 0.5 – 1.3 μm 2.3 – 2.8 μm 0.25 – 0.76 μm

96.6% @ 1.0 MPa 96.4% 97.0% @ 1.0 MPa 97.4%

Space Factor 97.2% @ 1.0 MPa
@ 0.345 MPa @ 0.345 MPa

Typical Franklin Current 0.3 0.02 0.6

Typical Surface Resistivity

15 300 5
(Ω-cm2 /sheet)

Weldability Excellent (no porosity) Good (minimal porosity) Excellent (no porosity)

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FUTURE PRODUCTS

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SI-CR-AL-MN ALLOY FOR HIGH SPECIFIC
RESISTIVITY
• $1.8 Million Award from DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO)
• Development of High Resistivity Non-Oriented Electrical Steel (80 µΩ∙cm
alloy)

• Status: Preparing Application Evaluation

• Substantial increase in alloy resistivity for core loss reduction
• Research project to prove manufacturing feasibility
• 2023 completion

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THANK YOU

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Chris Jones
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
[email protected]
Or
Contact your Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. representative

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