Soft magnetic powder materials are used throughout industries such as motors and power converters. When manufacturing Fe-based soft magnetic composites, the size and shape of the soft magnetic powder and the microstructure in the powder are closely related to the magnetic properties. In this study, Fe-Si-Al-P alloy powders were manufactured using various manufacturing process parameter sets, and the process parameters of the vacuum induction melt gas atomization process were set as melt temperature, atomization gas pressure, and gas flow rate. Process variable data that records are converted into 6 types of data for each powder recovery section. Process variable data that recorded minute changes were converted into 6 types of data and used as input variables. As output variables, a total of 6 types were designated by measuring the particle size, flowability, apparent density, and sphericity of the manufactured powders according to the process variable conditions. The sensitivity of the input and output variables was analyzed through the Pearson correlation coefficient, and a total of 6 powder characteristics were analyzed by artificial neural network model. The prediction results were compared with the results through linear regression analysis and response surface methodology, respectively.

We investigate the effect of phosphorous content on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Fe83.2Si5.33-0.33xB10.67-0.67xPxCu0.8 (x = 1–4 at.%) nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys. The simultaneous addition of Cu and P to nanocrystalline alloys reportedly decreases the nanocrystalline size significantly, to 10–20 nm. In the P-containing nanocrystalline alloy, P atoms are distributed in an amorphous residual matrix, which suppresses grain growth, increases permeability, and decreases coercivity. In this study, nanocrystalline ribbons with a composition of Fe83.2Si5.33-0.33xB10.67- 0.67xPxCu0.8 (x = 1–4 at.%) are fabricated by rapid quenching melt-spinning and thermal annealing. It is demonstrated that the addition of a small amount of P to the alloy improves the glass-forming ability and increases the resistance to undesirable Fex(B,P) crystallization. Among the alloys investigated in this work, an Fe83.2Si5B10P1Cu0.8 nanocrystalline ribbon annealed at 460oC exhibits excellent soft-magnetic properties including low coercivity, low core loss, and high saturation magnetization. The uniform nanocrystallization of the Fe83.2Si5B10P1Cu0.8 alloy is confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis.

In this paper, a durability study is presented to enhance the mechanical properties of an Fe-Si-Al powderbased magnetic core, through the addition of graphite. The compressive properties of Fe-Si-Al-graphite powder mixtures are explored using discrete element method (DEM), and a powder compaction experiment is performed under identical conditions to verify the reliability of the DEM analysis. Important parameters for powder compaction of Fe-Si-Algraphite powder mixtures are identified. The compressibility of the powders is observed to increase as the amount of graphite mixture increases and as the size of the graphite powders decreases. In addition, the compaction properties of the Fe-Si-Al-graphite powder mixtures are further explored by analyzing the transmissibility of stress between the top and bottom punches as well as the distribution of the compressive force. The application of graphite powders is confirmed to result in improved stress transmission and compressive force distribution, by 24% and 51%, respectively.

The effect of intercritical annealing temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe-9Mn-0.2C- 3Al-0.5Si medium manganese steels containing Cu and Ni is investigated in this study. Six kinds of medium manganese steels are fabricated by varying the chemical composition and intercritical annealing temperature. Hardness and tensile tests are performed to examine the correlation of microstructure and mechanical properties for the intercritical annealed medium manganese steels containing Cu and Ni. The microstructures of all the steels are composed mostly of lath ferrite, reverted austenite and cementite, regardless of annealing temperature. The room-temperature tensile test results show that the yield and tensile strengths decrease with increasing intercritical annealing temperature due to higher volume fraction and larger thickness of reverted austenite. On the other hand, total and uniform elongations, and strain hardening exponent increase due to higher dislocation density because transformation-induced plasticity is promoted with increasing annealing temperature by reduction in reverted austenite stability.

A lean alloy is defined as a low alloy steel that minimizes the content of the alloying elements, while maintaining the characteristics of the sintered alloy. The purpose of this study is to determine the change in microstructure and mechanical properties due to the addition of silicon or tin in Fe-Mo-P, Fe-Mn-P, and Fe-Mo-Mn-P alloys. Silicon- or tin-added F-Mo-P, Fe-Mn-P, and Fe-Mo-Mn-P master alloys were compacted at 700 MPa and subsequently sintered under a H2-N2 atmosphere at 1120oC. The sintered density of three alloy systems decreases under the same compacting pressure due to dimensional expansion with increasing Si content. As the diffusion rate in the Fe- P-Mo system is higher than that in the Fe-P-Mn system, the decrease in the sintered density is the largest in the Fe-PMn system. The sintered density of Sn added alloys does not change with the increasing Sn content due to the effect of non-dimensional changes. However, the effect of Si addition on the transverse rupture strengthening enhancement is stronger than that of Sn addition in these lean alloys.

Fe-6.5 wt.% Si alloys are widely known to have excellent soft magnetic properties such as high magnetic flux density, low coercivity, and low core loss at high frequency. In this work, disc-shaped preforms are prepared by spark plasma sintering at 1223 K after inert gas atomization of Fe-6.5 wt.% Si powders. Fe-6.5 wt.% Si sheets are rolled by a powder hot-rolling process without cracking, and their microstructure and soft magnetic properties are investigated. The microstructure and magnetic properties (saturation magnetization and core loss) of the hot-rolled Fe-6.5 wt.% Si sheets are examined by scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, vibration sample magnetometry, and AC B–H analysis. The Fe-6.5 wt.% Si sheet rolled at a total reduction ratio of 80% exhibits good soft magnetic properties such as a saturation magnetization of 1.74 T and core loss (W5/1000) of 30.7 W/kg. This result is caused by an increase in the electrical resistivity resulting from an increased particle boundary density and the oxide layers between the primary particle boundaries.

Fe-Si-Cr ferroalloy is predominantly produced by carbothermic reduction. In this study, silicothermic and carbothermic mixed reduction of chromite ore to produce Fe-Si-Cr alloy is suggested. As reductants, silicon and silicon carbide are evaluated by thermochemical calculations, which prove that silicon carbide can be applied as a raw material. Considering the critical temperature of the change from the carbide to the metallic form of chromium, thereduction experiments were carried out. In these high temperature reactions, silicon and silicon carbide act as effective reductants to produce Fe-Si-Cr ferroalloy. However, at temperatures lower than the critical temperature, silicon carbide shows a slow reaction rate for reducing chromite ore. For the proper implementation of a commercial process that uses silicon carbide reductants, the operation temperature should be kept above the critical temperature. Using equilibrium calculations for chromite ore reduction with silicon and silicon carbide, the compositions of reacted metal and slag were successfully predicted. Therefore, the mass balance of the silicothermic and carbothermic mixed reduction of chromite ore can be proposed based on the calculations and the experimental results.

A lean alloy is defined as a low alloy steel with a minimum amount of the alloying element that maintains the characteristics of the sintered alloy. It is well known that the addition of elements such as Cr, P, Si, or Mn improves the mechanical characteristics of the alloy, but decreases the sinterability. The mother alloy is used to avoid an oxidation reaction with the alloying elements of Cr, P, Si or Mn. The purpose of this study is to determine the change in the mechanical properties of Fe-P-Mo and Fe-P-Mn alloys as a result of the addition of Si. In this article, the Fe-P-Mo and Fe-P-Mn alloys to which Si is added are compacted at 7.0 g/cm3 and then sintered in H2-N2 at 1120℃. The P around the macropores and large grains reduces due to the formation of SiO2 as the Si content increases. This is caused by the increase in strength owing to reducing intergranular fracture by suppressing the reaction with oxygen.

Spatial distributions of alloying elements of an Fe-based amorphous ribbon with a nominal composition of Fe75C11Si2B8Cr4 were analyzed through the atom probe tomography method. The amorphous ribbon was prepared through the melt spinning method. The macroscopic amorphous natures were confirmed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Atom Probe (Cameca LEAP 3000X HR) analyses were carried out in pulsed voltage mode at a specimen base temperature of about 60 K, a pulse to base voltage ratio of 15 %, and a pulse frequency of 200 kHz. The target detection rate was set to 5 ions per 1000 pulses. Based on a statistical analyses of the data obtained from the volume of 59×59×33nm3, homogeneous distributions of alloying elements in nano-scales were concluded. Even with high carbon and strong carbide forming element contents, nano-scale segregation zones of alloying elements were not detected within the Fe-based amorphous ribbon. However, the existence of small sub-nanometer scale clusters due to short range ordering cannot be completely excluded.

The crystal structure and magnetic properties of a new solid solution type ferrite (Fe2O3)5-(Al2O3)3.4-(Ga2O3)0.6-SiO were investigated using X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The results of the X-ray diffraction pattern indicated that the crystal structure of the sample appears to be a cubic spinel type structure. The lattice constant (a = 8.317 Å) decreases slightly with the substitution of Ga2O3 even though the ionic radii of the Ga ions are larger than that of the Al ions. The results can be attributed to a higher degree of covalency in the Ga-O bonds than in the Al-O and Fe-O bonds, which can also be explained using the observed Mössbauer parameters, which are the magnetic hyperfine field, isomer shift, and quadrupole splitting. The drastic change in the magnetic structure according to the Ga ion substitution in the (Fe2O3)5(Al2O3)4-x(Ga2O3)xSiO system and the low temperature variation have been studied through a Mössbauer spectroscopy. The Mössbauer spectrum at room temperature shows the superpositions of two Zeeman patterns and a strong doublet. It shows significant departures from the prototypical ferrite and is comparable with the diluted ferrite. The doublet of spectrum at room temperature appears to originate from superparamagnetic clusters and also the asymmetry of the doublet appears to be caused by the preferred orientation of the crystallites. The Mössbauer spectra below room temperature show various complicated patterns, which can be explained by the freezing of the superparamagnetic clusters. On cooling, the magnetic states of the sample were various and multi critical.

Methods of producing hydrogen include steam reforming, electrochemical decomposition of water, and the SI process. Among these methods, the Sulfur iodine process is one of the most promising processes for hydrogen production. The thermochemical sulfur-iodine (SI) process uses heat from a high-temperature-gas nuclear reactor to produce H2 gas; this process is known for its production of clean energy as it does not emit CO2 from water. But the SI-process takes place in an extremely corrosive environment for the materials. To endure SI environments, the materials for the SI environment will have to have strong corrosion resistance. This work studies the corrosion resistances of the Fe-Si, Ni-Ti and Ni Alloys, which are tested in SI-process environments. Among the SI-process environments, the conditions of boiling sulfuric acid and decomposed sulfuric acid are selected in this study. Before testing in boiling sulfuric acid environments, the specimens of Fe-4.5Si, Fe-6Si, Ni-4.5Si, Ni-Ti-Si-Nb and Ni-Ti-Si-Nb-B are previously given heat treatment at 1000˚C for 48 hrs. The reason for this heat treatment is that those specimens have a passive film on the surface. The specimens are immersed for 3~14 days in 98wt% boiling sulfuric acid. Corrosion rates are measured by using the weight change after immersion. The corrosion rates of the Fe-6Si and Ni-Ti-Si-Nb-B are found to decrease as the time passes. The corrosion rates of Fe-6si and Ni-Ti-Si-Nb-B are measured at 0.056 mm/yr and 0.16 mm/yr, respectively. Hastelloy-X, Alloy 617, Alloy 800H and Haynes 230 are tested in the decomposed sulfuric acid for one day. Alloy 800H was found to show the best corrosion resistance among the materials. The corrosion rate of Alloy 800H is measured at -0.35 mm/yr. In these results, the corrosion resistance of materials depends on the stability of the oxide film formed on the surface. After testing in boiling sulfuric acid and in decomposed sulfuric acid environments, the surfaces and compositions of specimens are analyzed by SEM and EDX.

The electromagnetic wave absorption sheets were fabricated by mixing of nanocrystalline soft magnetic powder, charcoal powder and polymer based binder. The complex permittivity, complex permeability, and scattering parameter have been measured using a network analyzer in the frequency range of 10 MHz10 GHz. The results showed that complex permittivity of sheets was largely dependent on the frequency and the amount of charcoal powder : The permittivity was improved up to 100 MHz, however the value was decreased above 1 GHz. The power loss of electromagnetic wave absorption data showed almost the same tendency as the results of complex permittivity. However, the complex permeability was not largely affected by the frequency, and the values were decreased with the addition of charcoal powder. Based on the results, it can be summarized that the addition of charcoal powder was very effective to improve the EM wave absorption in the frequency range of 10 MHz1 GHz.

3-D shape soft magnetic composite parts can be formed by general compaction method of powder metallurgy. In this study, the results on the high density nanostructured Fe-Si/Fe composite prepared by a warm compaction method were presented. Ball-milled Fe-25 wt.%Si powder, pure Fe powder and Si-polymer were mixed and then the powder mixture was compacted at various temperatures and pressures. Pore free density of samples up to 95% theoretical value has been obtained. The warm compacted sample prepared at 650 MPa and 240℃ had highest compaction properties in comparison with other compacts prepared at 300, 400 MPa and room temperature and 120℃. The magnetic properties such as core loss, magnetization saturation and coercivity were measured by B-H curve analyzer and vibration sample magnetometer.

The effects of the dopant (Mn) ratio on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of alloy were studied in this research. The alloy was fabricated by a combination process of ball milling and high pressure pressing. Structural behavior of the sintered bulks were systematically investigated by XRD, SEM, and optical microscopy. With increasing dopan (Mn) ratio, the density and phase of the sintered bulks increased and maximum density of 94% was obtained in the 0.07% Mn-doped alloy. The sintered bulks showed fine microstructure of , and phase. The semiconducting phase of was transformed from phase by annealing

The densification behavior of Al-20Si-5.5Fe-1.2Mg-0.5Mn powders was investigated through micro-structure analysis of sintered specimens. The specimens sintered in vacuum or in high purity (99.999%) nitrogen showed porous near-surface microstructures. The densification of near-surface part was enhanced by means of ultra-high purity (99.9999%) nitrogen atmosphere. The relationship between slow densification and oxide surfaces of Al alloy powders was discussed. And the effects of Mg addition, nitrogen gas, and humidity on densification were discussed. In addition, the rapid growth of primary Si crystals above the critical temperature was reported.

Core loss of soft magnetic powder cores have been focused on to achieve high efficiency of power supplies. In this study the effects of crystal grain size on core loss were investigated by changing heat treatment conditions. It was found that core loss is influenced by crystal grain size because eddy current loss decreased and hysteresis loss increased by making crystal grain size smaller, and it is also influenced by particle size.

High heat-resistant Al-Fe-V-Si and Al-Fe-V-Si-X rapidly solidified powder metallurgy (RS P/M) alloys have been developed under well-controlled high purity argon gas atmosphere. The (at. %) RS P/M alloy exhibited high elevated-temperature strength exceeding 300 MPa and good ductility with elongation of 6 % at 573 K. Reduction of partical pressure in P/M processing atmosphere led to improvement in mechanical properties of the powder-consolidated alloys under elevated-temperature service conditions. Ti addition to the Al-Fe-V-Si conduced to enhancement of the strength at room temperature. The tensile yeild strength and ultimate strenght were 545 MPa and 722 MPa, respectively.

Two atomized alloy powders were pre-compacted by cold and subsequently hot forged at temperatures ranging from 653K to 845K. The addition of Cu and Mg causes a decrease in the eutectic reaction temperature of Al-10Si-5Fe-1Zr alloy from 841K to 786K and results in a decrease of flow stress at the given forging temperature. TEM observation revealed that in addition to Al-Fe based intermetallics, Al2Cu and Al2CuMg intermetallics appeared. The volume fraction of intermetallic dispersoids increased by the addition of Cu and Mg. Compressive strength of the present alloys was closely related to the volume fraction of intermetallic dispersoids.