Fuller menu of thin-gauge high-efficiency electrical steel sheets for energy saving

Nippon Steel Corporation (President CHIHAYA Akira) has developed a high-tensile-strength electrical steel sheet for ultra-high-speed motors (tens of thousand of revolutions per minute) and a high-torque， high-formability electrical steel sheet suitable to manufacture hard disc drives (HDD) and other products.

Electrical steel sheets are an important industrial material widely used as iron cores of motors and other electrical equipment and the degree of the power loss affects the efficiency and energy consumption of the electrical equipment. As the leading maker of electrical steel sheets， Nippon Steel has contributed to the enhancement of equipment efficiency and the effective use of energy by manufacturing and supplying diverse kinds of electrical steel sheets that can meet a wide range of requirements. Recently， amid the increasing global concern for energy saving and the prevention of global warming， the need of even more efficient motors has intensified. Particularly， in such areas as HDD motors， driving motors for electric cars and generators for micro-gas turbines， the adoption of high-efficiency electrical steel sheets is growing.

To reduce the energy loss (core loss) of motors， thinning of electrical steel sheets is an effective measure. Up to now， Nippon Steel has offered 0.15－0.20 mm-thick， high-efficiency， thin-gauge electrical steel sheets (specifications: 15HTH1000， 20HTH1200 and 20HTH1500). Now， in reply to customers’ request for greater efficiency of motors and their manufacturing processes， Nippon Steel has expanded the lineup of its thin-gauge electrical steel sheets with the addition of the following new items:

? High-tensile-strength， thin-gauge electrical steel sheets (specifications: 15HST780Y， 20HST570Y and 20HST780Y)For greater efficiency， motor speed is on the increase. Since a powerful centrifugal force is exerted on the rotors during high-speed motor revolutions， the rotors can fracture if the strength of the electrical steel sheets used is insufficient. Particularly， in the type of motors in which magnets are inserted in the holes of the rotors made of electrical steel sheets， the securement of the structural strength of the parts which support magnets is an extremely important issue. The high-tensile-strength， thin-gauge electrical steel sheets have succeeded in realizing a high strength more than twice the conventional level， while minimizing the increase of core loss.
? High-torque， high-formability thin-gauge electrical steel sheets (specification: 20HTH1800) The adoption of fluid bearings is increasing in HDD for more planer stability of the revolving discs. In this case， as the frictional resistance is greater than in the case of ball bearings， a higher motor torque is required. As a result， higher flux density is required of electrical steel sheets. Also， with the increase in the production of HDD motors， the improvement in the punching property (low hardness) of electrical steel sheets has become necessary to prevent die wear. Nippon Steel’s newly developed electrical steel sheets offer both high flux density and excellent formability， while maintaining core loss values within the tolerance range.

Using these new products， trial manufacture is already under way targeting such applications as ultra-high-speed motors， magnetic bearings and electric car motors. Nippon Steel looks forward to contributing to energy saving and the prevention of global warming through the wider use of these products as important materials in promoting the miniaturization of various mobile devices and the greater use of electric cars.


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For more information about this release， please call:

SAKAIDA Akira， Electrical Sheet Sales Division， 03-3275-7857
KANKE Takashi， Public Relations Center， 03-3275-5021