Seminar

Rare-earth free/lean permanent magnets and their applications

 

Jihoon Park

Department of Magnetic Materials, Powder Materials Division,

Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon, Gyeongnam, 51508, Republic of Korea

 

Permanent magnet materials are essential for converting mechanical and electrical energy and are required for electric vehicles, electronics, wind turbines, etc. Recently, the rapid development of the electric vehicle industry has increased the demand for high-performance magnets. Among all types of motors, permanent magnet motors are the most efficient, and the efficiency can be further increased by improving the magnetic properties of permanent magnets. The rare earth Nd-Fe-B magnet exhibits the highest maximum energy product of 59 MGOe at room temperature [1]. However, their limited supply, high cost, and large negative temperature coefficient of coercivity limit their use for motor applications. For these reasons, developing new rare earth free/lean permanent magnets with moderate performance is well worthwhile for motor applications. Therefore, we will introduce the magnetic properties of newly developed rare earth free/lean permanent magnets such as ThMn₁₂-type Fe-rich compounds, Mn-Bi, etc. for motor applications. In addition, basic magnetism and application of magnetic materials will be discussed.

 

[1] S. Sugimoto, “Current status and recent topics of rare-earth permanent magnets” J. Phys. D:  Appl. Phys. 44, 064001–064011 (2011).