Effect of yttrium substitution on magnetic properties and service performances of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets

We successfully fabricated partial Y substituted NdY-Fe-B magnets with nominal compositions of(Nd_(1-x)Y_(x))_(13.80)Fe_(ba1)Al_(0.24)Cu_(0.1)B_(6.04)(at%,x=0,0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4) by powder metallurgy process and the magnetic properties as well as service performances of the magnets were also systematically investigated.The phase constituents of the magnets have no obvious variation within the whole range of Y content,while the main phase grains form in-situ core-shell structure where Y gathers in the core and Nd mainly distributes in the shell.Compared with pure Nd-Fe-B magnets,the magnetic performances of Y substituted magnets slightly decrease on account of the poor intrinsic magnetic properties of Y_(2)Fe_(14)B.Fortunately,the μ_(O)M_(r),μ_(O)H_(cj) and(BH)_(max) of the 20 at% Y magnet still remain at a high level of 1.325 kG,1.173 kOe and 342.884 kj/m^(3),which approaches the performances of commercial N45-grade magnet.The service performances of Y substituted magnets indicate that though the surface corrosion products and Vickers hardness of the NdY-Fe-B magnets increase to a certain extent compared to Nd-Fe-B,the magnets with Y substitution still display relatively good service performances.Therefore,on the basis of sacrificing little partial magnetic and service performances,Y substituted Nd can still prepare NdY-Fe-B medium-grade magnets.By this way,we achieve the balanced utilization of rare earth resources,which has significant meanings for the industry and scientific research.

A comparative study of NdY-Fe-B magnet and NdCe-Fe-B magnet

Low cost and high abundance rare earth elements Y and Ce have attracted tremendous interests of the industrial and scientific societies for fabricating the highly cost-performance efficient rare earth permanent magnets.However,the effect of separate replacement of Nd by Y or Ce on the performances of NdFeB-type magnet under the same atomic ratio and preparation conditions is still unclear.In this work,we systematically investigated the magnetic properties,thermal stabilities and service performances of(Nd_(0.8)Y_(0.2))_(13.80)Fe_(bal)Al_(0.24)Cu_(0.1)B_(6.04)(atomic fraction,denoted as 20 Y)and(Nd_(0.8)Ce_(0.2))_(13.80)Fe_(bal)Al_(0.24)Cu_(0.1)B_(6.04)(atomic fraction,denoted as 20 Ce)magnets.The results demonstrate that theμ_(0)M_(r),μ_(0)H_(c)and(BH)_(max)of 20 Y magnet are respectively 1.325 T,1.173 T and 343.467 kJ/m^(3),which are comprehensively higher than those of 20 Ce magnet(μ_(0)M_(r)=1.310 T,μ_(0)H_(c)=0.948 T,(BH)_(max)=321.105 kJ/m^(3)).Moreover,the 20 Y magnet has higher thermal stability compared with 20 Ce magnet which is favorable for the magnetic performances at elevated temperatures.The investigation of micro structure and elemental distribution indicates that the excellent magnetic performance s of NdY-Fe-B magnet can be attributed not only to the preferable intrinsic properties4πM_(s),H_(s)and T_(c)of Y_(2)Fe_(14)B,but also to the in-situ co re-shell structure of the 2:14:1 matrix phase grain with Yrich core and Nd-rich shell,along with the thicker grain boundary layer between the adjacent matrix phase grains in NdY-Fe-B magnet.Furthermore,the 20 Y magnet exhibits better mechanical property and higher corrosion resistance than 20 Ce magnet,which are helpful for prolonging the service life of the magnet in practical application.