Development of Fe-Si material for magnetic applications

Abstract

This project investigated the mechanochemical synthesis of nanograined Fe-Si based alloys, the thermal stability of the nanograins, sintering and the magnetic properties of sintered products. Initially, synthesis and thermal stability of a set of nanostructured alloys based on the Fe75Si25 composition with ternary additions of Al, Cu and Nb were investigated. The milling conditions required to achieve nanograined and fully alloyed powder were first determined. Thermal stability investigations showed that Al and Nb additions inhibited grain growth more effectively than Cu. However, the Nb containing alloy formed the second phase Fe2Nb which is undesirable for soft magnetic applications. Hence Al was chosen as the promising ternary additive for further detailed studies on sintering and magnetic properties.