Rotary electric machine with adhesive-reinforced rotor

A method of constructing an adhesive-reinforced rotor for a rotary electric machine, the method comprising:

• forming a stack of rotor lamination layers from a magnetic core material, the rotor lamination layers including axial inner surfaces that collectively define a set of rotor openings through the rotor lamination layers;
• coating the axial inner surfaces of the rotor lamination layers with a polymer primer/adhesive layer to a predetermined bond line thickness of less than 1 mm;
• partially curing or b-staging the polymer primer/adhesive layer;
• inserting reinforcement blocks constructed of a ceramic material or a reinforced polymer composite material into one or more of the rotor openings of the rotor lamination layers after partially curing or b-staging the polymer primer/adhesive material, wherein a modulus of elasticity of the reinforcement blocks is at least three times greater than a modulus of elasticity of the polymer primer/adhesive material;
• and
• bonding the reinforcement blocks to the rotor lamination layers around axial inner surfaces using the polymer primer/adhesive material to thereby reinforce the rotor.

A rotary electric machine comprising:

• a stator;
• a rotor having a plurality of rotor lamination layers surrounded by the stator, the rotor lamination layers being formed of electrical steel and having axial inner surfaces collectively defining a set of rotor openings;
• one or more reinforcement blocks constructed of a ceramic material or a reinforced polymer composite material and disposed within the rotor openings, wherein a respective outer surface of each of the reinforcement blocks defines multiple protuberances;
• a nucleation layer bonded to the axial inner surfaces, constructed of Al2O3, and having a thickness of less than 20 nm;
• and
• a polymer primer/adhesive layer having a bond line thickness of between 0.05 mm and 0.2 mm, the polymer primer/adhesive layer being constructed of a non-reinforced polymer material and disposed between each respective one of the one or more reinforcement blocks and the rotor lamination layers, wherein:
• each of the protuberances extends into the primer/adhesive layer a distance of between 90% and 99% of the bond line thickness;
• a modulus of elasticity of the reinforced polymer material is at least 10 GPa, and a modulus of elasticity of the non-reinforced polymer material is less than 1 GPa;
• and
• the non-reinforced polymer material and the reinforcement blocks each have a tensile strength of at least 50 MPa and a coefficient of linear expansion of about 10-20 ppm/° C. or more.