MICROSTRUCTURE AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF FE-CO ALLOYS

Fe-Co soft magnetic alloys exhibit high magnetic saturation, high yiel d strength, and moderate core loss. Use of such materials in cyclic hi gh temperature high stress environments, such as generators and magnet ic bearings, gives impetus to determining material properties. In part icular, Hiperco(R) Alloy 50HS, provided by Carpenter Technology Corpor ation, has been a subject of our study. In order to fully understand t he overall behavior of the alloy, both mechanical and magnetic propert ies must be investigated. Magnetic performance is a function of grain size, which varies with the annealing process. Fe-Co samples have been treated by various annealing recipes ranging in temperature from 1300 to 1350 degrees F and magnetic saturation along with hysteresis loop measurements made using a vibrating sample magnetometer. An etching an d sample preparation process was developed and microstructural analyse s were performed. The correlation between composition, heat treatment, microstructure, and magnetic properties of these samples is discussed . (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.