Electric Motors & Engineering Solutions with Arnold Magnetic Technologies

[By: Arnold Marine Technologies]

Today’s boat engines, gallon-for-gallon, emit more pollutants than vehicles on the road do. As a result, the EPA introduced requirements for catalytic converters on inboard and sterndrive boats beginning in 2011. Many manufacturers of personal watercraft initially switched to outboard propulsion and are now looking to electric motors as the next step.

Electric motors and marine propulsion are a natural fit. An electric motor has a wide efficiency band and delivers full torque at zero RPM. Plus, it produces zero direct emissions, is quiet and requires almost no maintenance compared to a motor with an internal combustion engine.

Converting a boat from gasoline to electric isn’t as straightforward as dropping in a battery and motor from a car, though. Since boat drag increases with speed, the energy to move a boat through water is far greater than required for an equivalent electric vehicle. Developing a marine electric motor takes specialized expertise in electric motor design; this is where Arnold excels. No matter the size of the company or the project, Arnold can partner at whatever step of the process makes the most sense. Arnold offers everything from specialist information on permanent magnet technology, to sourcing components from an extensive selection of Arnold operated global resources, all the way up to a complete motor design.

Partnering with Arnold
When entering a partnership, the first step is to decide what the end accomplishment is and how to accomplish it. Perhaps a world-class supplier is struggling with pricing, quality or delivery from its existing supply chain. In that case, Arnold can be an alternative source for either an individual motor component or the complete motor system, having complete control over the supply chain. For example, Arnold sources SmCo cobalt magnets from our own Switzerland plant where all pressing and sintering is done in-house, coupled with a partnership with a rare earth mine to ensure the supply of quality raw materials.

Arnold can partner with a large company on a small project being brought in-house and help with specialized magnet designs to meet the unique requirements. They also have expertise in helping choose the optimum magnet material for a given application. Experts will help simplify choosing materials like neodymium iron boron, samarium cobalt, Alnico or another magnetic components.

If a small company lacks critical in-house expertise, Arnold can step in and offer specialized engineering services or a complete motor design and production capability. The Ramco Electric Motors division can manufacture stators, rotors and full electric motors to the most exacting specifications. In both cases, Arnold provides quick-turn design, rapid prototyping and testing utilizing one of the many technology centers located worldwide.