Sintered neodymium magnet production is an advanced powder metallurgy process in which an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron is formed in a strong magnetic field.
- Strip casting. The process begins by melting the charge in an induction furnace under a protective argon atmosphere. The molten metal is poured onto a rotating, water-cooled copper roller and solidifies into thin flakes (SC alloy).
- Hydrogen decrepitation and jet milling. The material undergoes the HD (Hydrogen Decrepitation) process — hydrogen penetrates the structure and breaks the ingots into fine particles. Jet mills operating in a nitrogen atmosphere then reduce the powder to a grain diameter of about 3 µm.
- Pressing and sintering. The powder is pressed in a strong magnetic field, which aligns the domains and gives the material anisotropy — a preferred direction of magnetisation. The “green” compacts go into vacuum furnaces at about 1050°C. Sintering is followed by two-stage annealing at 900°C and 600°C, which relieves internal stress and dissolves unstable phases.
- Machining and magnetisation. The sinters are cut to size with precision wire saws, which limits kerf losses of the costly material. After the protective coating is applied, the magnets are activated in pulse magnetisers with a field of around 5 T.
