From 6 to 9 September 2026, the electrical-machines research and industry community met in Funchal, Madeira, for the 27th International Conference on Electrical Machines (ICEM 2026). MAGELLAN results were featured in the poster titled “Optimization of the Fluid Flux Barriers in a Synchronous Permanent Magnet Machine Using a Multiphysics Approach Considering Mechanical Stress, Demagnetisation and the Driving Cycle Losses”. The contribution was authored by Abdenour Abdelli, Misa Milosavljevic and William Pommery of IFP Energies nouvelles, together with Olivier Tosoni of CEA-LITEN, and formed part of Poster Session IV on 9 September.
The study addresses a central challenge in MAGELLAN’s work on improved magnet and motor design: reducing permanent-magnet demand in an electric-vehicle traction motor while preserving the required performance and accounting for the characteristics and manufacturing opportunities presented by the Powder Injection Moulding (PIM) magnet manufacturing process. It advances the project’s New EV rotor design result and builds on the application requirements, PIM-process development and manufacturability inputs generated across the project.
The authors report that the selected design uses 17% less permanent-magnet material than the reference design while meeting the specified torque, high-speed power and WLTC efficiency requirements. The design also reduces the number of magnets per pole from nine to five and the number of distinct magnet geometries from five to three, potentially simplifying rotor manufacture. The work also identifies areas for further refinement, including local stress concentrations at the ends of the barriers and improved demagnetisation resistance as the PIM process matures.
By sharing these results at ICEM 2026, MAGELLAN engaged researchers, engineers, students and industry specialists with a concrete example of integrating magnet-processing constraints into electric-motor design. The contribution supports the project’s broader objective of a more resource-efficient and resilient European permanent-magnet value chain for electric mobility.
