ZEISS eMobility Solutions

Quality Assurance for Hairpins

Insights into Hairpins

In the latest generation of e-motors, the current-carrying conductors inside the stator are no longer wound from thin wires, but bent from solid copper into hundreds of hairpins. These pins have individual shapes and diff er when it comes to the length, angles and cross-section of copper. Using hairpins increases the amount of copper in the stator slots, which boosts efficiency. This is why the dimensions and quality of the stator are so crucial.

Dimensions & Coating Quality

Each hairpin has a flexible structure and is coated with a sensitive lacquer layer – these characteristics create challenges for reliable tactile inspection. An automated ZEISS coordinate measuring machine, equipped with confocal light or laser triangulation optical sensor is one option to accurately measure the shape and lacquer thickness. Another more manual, flexible tool is a standalone ZEISS optical fringe projection sensor or a ZEISS handheld laser scanner.

Hairpin measurement on CMM with Confocal Whitelight Sensor or Handheld Laser Scanning
Hairpin measurement on CMM with Confocal Whitelight Sensor or Handheld Laser Scanning
Hairpin Digitizing with the tringe light projection system ATOS Q and ZEISS Reverse Eingineering Software
Hairpin Digitizing with the tringe light projection system ATOS Q and ZEISS Reverse Eingineering Software

Bending Design Quality

The design of a hairpin is not simply defined by a CAD model, but developed in many loops through the configuration of the bending parameters. It’s necessary to scan and produce CAD models to evaluate finished hairpins in relation to a master pin. Fringe projection and laser triangulation a high-resolution point clouds of the hairpins. ZEISS Reverse Engineering software can quickly turn these into high-quality CAD models.