Recent Developments in Soft Magnetic Alloys

Abstract

The present status of soft magnetic alloys used in power generation, communication, and special devices applications will be reviewed with emphasis on future prospects for their improvement. Although the study of microscopic structure of magnetic materials has led to important advances, present and future improvements require an understanding of the fundamental processes of magnetization and a study of submicroscopic and atomic influences. The bulk of present day magnetic materials is based on alloys of iron with silicon, aluminum, nickel, and cobalt in varying proportions. Their quality has been constantly upgraded by better control of purity and composition through improvements in melting, processing, and annealing practices. Some examples of how each of these factors affects the ultimate magnetic properties of soft magnetic alloys will be given. Brief summaries will also be presented on the magnetic properties of current soft magnetic materials and how they relate to modern devices. Some interesting properties of magnetic alloys based on iron, silicon and/or aluminum will be reported. The development of a hardenable, corrosion and abrasion resistant nonmagnetic alloy based on a ductile intermetallic compound TiNi will also be disclosed.