Rare earth permanent magnets prepared by hot deformation process

TL;DR

This paper reviews the hot deformation process for producing anisotropic rare earth permanent magnets, highlighting its advantages, effects of parameters on properties, and solutions for manufacturing complex shapes like ring magnets.

Contribution

It systematically summarizes the effects of preparation parameters on microstructure and magnetic properties, and addresses challenges in fabricating crack-free, homogeneous ring-shaped magnets.

Findings

Hot deformation yields high-anisotropy, textured magnets with ultrafine grains.

Process parameters significantly influence magnetic properties and microstructure.

Mold design and simulation help produce crack-free, homogeneous ring magnets.

Abstract

Hot deformation process is one of the primary methods to produce anisotropic rare earth permanent magnets. Firstly, rapidly quenched powder flakes with nanocrystal structure are condensed into the full dense isotropic precursors by hot pressing process. And then, the prepared isotropic precursors are hot deformed to produce high-anisotropy uniaxial bulk rare earth permanent magnets, in which the highly textured structure is obtained in the hot plastic deformation process. The obtained hot-deformed magnets possess many advantages, such as near net-shape, outstanding corrosion resistance and ultrafine-grain structure. The noteworthy effects of preparation parameters employed in hot-pressing and deformation processes on the magnetic properties and microstructures characterizations are systemically summarized in this academic monograph. As a near net-shape technique, hot deformation process has noteworthy advantages in producing irregular shape magnets, especially for radially oriented ring-shape magnets with high length-diameter ratio or thin wall. The difficulties in producing crack-free, homogeneous and non-decentered ring-shaped magnets are basically resolved through mold design, adjustment of deformation parameters and application of theoretical simulation. Considering the characteristics of hot-deformed magnets, such as the grain shapes and sizes, anisotropic distribution of intergranular phases, etc., there is practical significance to study and improve the mechanical, electric properties and thermal stability to enlarge the applicable area of hot-deformed magnets or ring-shaped magnets.