The advent of neodymium-iron-boron materials having excellent magnetic
properties and potential economic advantages has initiated a new era
in permanent magnet technology, One method of making these magnets is
by the rapid solidification process. It is typically carried out by me
lt spinning, which produces a highly stable, magnetically hard microst
ructure powder, directly from the melt, This can be used for bonded ma
gnet applications, Alternatively, this powder can be hot pressed to pr
oduce fully dense isotropic magnets with energy products up to 15 MGOe
. Anisotropic magnets with energy products ranging up to 50 MGOe can b
e produced by thermomechanical orientation or hot deformation process.
Current processing and properties of Magnequench (General Motors) mat
erials are reviewed, as well as the applications and advances of these
materials. The advances include high-temperature bonded magnet and hi
gh-energy product anisotropic bonded and fully dense magnets.