Thermal expansion behavior of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets with different Co contents and orientations

The thermal expansion behavior of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets is a crucial parameter for production and application.However, this aspect has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, three different sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets with varying Co content(Co = 0, 6, 12 wt%) were prepared using the conventional powder metallurgy method, and four magnets oriented under different magnetic fields were prepared to compare. The thermal expansion behavior for the magnets was investigated using a linear thermal dilatometry in the temperature range of 20℃–500℃. It was found that, the coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) increases with the increase of Co contents, while the anisotropy of thermal expansion decreases.The introduction of Co leads to continuous changes from negative to positive thermal expansion in the vertically oriented direction, which is important for the development of zero thermal expansion magnets. The thermal expansion of nonoriented magnets was found to be isotropic. Additionally, the anisotropy of thermal expansion increases with the increase of orientation degree. These results have important implications for the development of sintered Nd–Fe–B with controllable CTE.

Optimization of the grain boundary diffusion process by doping gallium and zirconium in Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets

As the channel for grain boundary diffusion(GBD)in Nd–Fe–B magnets,grain boundary(GB)phases have a very important effect on GBD.As doping elements that are commonly used to regulate the GB phases in Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets,the influences of Ga and Zr on GBD were investigated in this work.The results show that the Zr-doped magnet has the highest coercivity increment(7.97 kOe)by GBD,which is almost twice that of the Ga-doped magnet(4.32 kOe)and the magnet without Ga and Zr(3.24 kOe).Microstructure analysis shows that ZrB_(2)formed in the Zr-doped magnet plays a key role in increasing the diffusion depth.A continuous diffusion channel in the magnet can form because of the presence of ZrB_(2).ZrB_(2)can also increase the defect concentration in GB phases,which can facilitate GBD.Although Ga can also improve the diffusion depth,its effect is not very obvious.The micromagnetic simulation based on the experimental results also proves that the distribution of Tb in the Zr-doped magnet after GBD is beneficial to coercivity.This study reveals that the doping elements Ga and Zr in Nd–Fe–B play an important role in GBD,and could provide a new perspective for researchers to improve the effects of GBD.

Magnetic Properties of Nd-Fe-B Sintered Magnet Powders Recovered by Yb Metal Vapor Sorption

Fine ground powders of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet bulks (particle size=46～125 μm in diameter) were coated and alloyed with Yb metal by sorbing them. A significant recovery of the decreased magnetic properties of the ground powders (remanence B r=～0.95 T, coercivity H cj =～227 kA·m -1 and maximum energy product (BH) max=～48 8 kJ·m -3) was observed in accordance with increasing temperature up to 800 ℃. The sorbing temperature and time for Yb metal vapor were optimized and after heating at 800 ℃ for 90 min and annealing subsequently at 610 ℃ for 60 min, the B r, H cj and (BH) max values were increased to be 0.98 T, 712 kA·m -1 and 173 kJ·m -3, respectively. From the microstructural characterizations of resulting samples by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electron probe X-ray microanalyzer (EPMA), it is found that the sorbed Yb metal uniformly covers the surface and diffuses to the Nd-rich grain boundary of fine ground powders of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet bulks forming a (Nd,Yb)Fe 2 phase.