Challenges and Solutions for Contacting Insulated Litz Wire Structures in the Context of Electromechanical Engineering

The contacting process for insulated copper wires is one of the most challenging operations in the field of electromechanical engineering. New technologies used by electric motors and inductive charging devices increases the complexity of this process. A major factor contributing to increased process complexity is the use of litz wires which consist of numerous individually insulated thin wires. During the contacting process, each of the litz wires must be reliably stripped as well as electrically and mechanically connected to each other or additional contact elements. Therefore, the purpose of this publication is to show and evaluate various contacting processes that exhibit high potential for use with different types of litz wires. In each process evaluation, both shaped wires for electric motor applications and high-frequency litz wires for inductive charging applications are considered. The results are compiled in a process matrix which shows the contacting processes suitable for each wire type as well as their corresponding advantages and disadvantages.