Preparation of nanocrystalline Fe–Ni powders by mechanical alloying used in soft magnetic composites

This paper focuses on the preparation of nanocrystalline Fe–Ni powders by mechanical alloying method, which can be used in soft magnetic composites. Fe–10 wt% Ni and Fe–20  wt % Ni alloys were prepared using a high-energy ball mill. The magnetic properties of samples were measured by a B–H curve analyzer and microstructures of the samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The bcc Fe(Ni) phase formation was identified by XRD and completed after 45 h of milling. It was found that higher milling time resulted in, larger lattice parameter, higher microstrains and smaller crystallite sizes. Also, results showed that with increasing the milling time, coercivity increased and saturation intrinsic flux density firstly increased noticeably and then decreased in higher milling times (>70 h).     

Crystallization of amorphous Ni35Zr65 and Fe40Ni40P14B6 under proton irradiation

Two amorphous alloys, Ni₃₅Zr₆₅ and Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆, were irradiated using 400 keV protons at several temperatures below the crystallization temperature, T_x, to peak doses in the neighborhood of 3.5 to 4.5 dpa. Irradiation at 250°C resulted in the crystallization of both alloys, which were examined by transmission electron microscopy of samples electrolytically polished to various distances from the irradiated surface to study the effect of dose. Samples masked from the proton beam remained amorphous during irradiation. In the Ni₃₅Zr₆₅ alloy crystallization of the equilibrium phases propagated throughout the entire sample, while the in the Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ alloy crystallization was observed only in those parts of the samples lying within the proton range. Neither alloy crystallized during irradiation at 100°C. In both these alloys the amorphous phase is therefore evidently stable at irradiation temperatures below approximately 0.6 T_x. An examination of the literature on irradiation damage of binary alloys and intermetallic compounds suggests that there is a tendency for initially amorphous alloys to remain amorphous at irradiation temperatures, T_irr < 0.3 T_L, where T_L (≈T_x) is the “melting” temperature (either a eutectic, peritectic or congruent melting temperature). Also, these same alloys, even when they are initially crystalline, transform to the amorphous state during irradiation at T < 0.3 T_L. Some other crystalline alloys have also been shown to transform to the amorphous state at T_irr < 0.3 T_L even though they have never been prepared in this condition by rapid quenching techniques. The temperature 0.3 T_L appears to be a lower limit, however, since the crystalline to amorphous transformation occurs in many of these alloys at temperatures greater than 0.3 T_L. It is suggested, by analogy with results on void formation in irradiated metals, that this low temperature limit is related to the low mobility of vacancies in these materials, although the mechanism of crystallization, or conversely amorphization, is not fully understood.     

Investigating Bulk Waves in Orthotropic Rectangular Nanoplates Based on Three Dimensional Elasticity Theory and Nonlocal Elasticity Theory

The propagation of bulk waves in rectangular nanoplates is studied on the basis of nonlocal three-dimensional elasticity theory. The nonlocal theory applies to both thin and thick rectangular orthotropic nanoplates. The dispersion relation for the waves is derived analytically. Our results are checked against data for macroplates. The influence of nonlocality and other parameters on the wave frequency and phase velocity is discussed.     

Magnetic and structural properties of iron phosphate-phenolic soft magnetic composites

This work focuses on the effect of phosphate modification on the magnetic and surface properties of iron-phenolic soft magnetic composite materials. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, EDX analysis, distribution maps, X-ray diffraction pattern and density measurements show that the particles surface layer contains a thin layer of nanocrystalline/amorphous phosphate with high coverage of powders surface. Magnetic measurements show that phosphating treatment decreases the loss factor, imaginary part of permeability, increases the electrical resistivity and operating frequencies by decreasing the effective particle size. The operating frequency increases from 200 kHz for uncoated-powders samples to 1 MHz for phosphated-powders samples at optimum concentration. Phosphated iron powders that are covered by 0.7 wt% of phenolic resin exhibits lower magnetic loss and higher frequency stability. The minimum loss factor and maximum permeability at each frequency can be obtained for 0.01 g/ml orthophosphoric acid concentration in comparison with other concentrations including 0.005 and 0.04 g/ml.     

Synthesis of 3,4,5-substituted furan-2(5<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>)-ones using Al-doped ZnO nanostructure

Al-doped ZnO nanostructures were prepared via a simple precipitation method and were characterized by several techniques including XRD, TEM, EDX, UV–Vis, and DLS. All XRD patterns show the hexagonal single-phase structure of pure and Al-doped ZnO nanopowders without impurity. The samples consist of particles with average sizes ranging from 53 to 60 nm measured by DLS technique. Next, the catalytic activity of pure and Al-doped ZnO nanopowders was investigated in terms of synthesis of 3,4,5-substituted furan-2(5H)-one derivatives using the three-component reaction of aldehydes, aromatic amines, and acetylenic esters. This procedure has advantages such as high yields, simple methodology, and easy work-up.     

Analysis of the magnetic losses in iron-based soft magnetic composites with MgO insulation produced by sol-gel method

This work investigated the magnetic losses of heat treated iron-based soft magnetic composites with a thin MgO insulating layer produced by sol-gel method. The samples were characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results show that the surface of the powders contains a thin layer of MgO insulation. The loss results indicate that the hysteresis part for both the core loss and total loss factor was approximately the same for the MgO-insulated compacts and conventional SOMALOY^TM samples with phosphate insulation after annealing at 600 °C. But the MgO-insulated compacts exhibited significantly lower eddy current contribution of both core loss and total loss factor with respect to SOMALOY^TM samples after annealing. Also the contribution of eddy current in the iron particles for MgO insulated compacts (k_p=0.91) was noticeably higher than this contribution for SOMALOY^TM samples (k_p=0.18) after annealing due to the higher electrical resistivity of the MgO-insulated compacts.     

Effect of warm compaction on the magnetic and electrical properties of Fe-based soft magnetic composites

This paper investigates the effect of warm compaction on the magnetic and electrical properties of Fe-based soft magnetic composites at operating frequencies between 0.1 and 10 kHz. The magnetic and electrical properties of samples were measured by an LCR meter and morphology of the samples was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that the compacted sample prepared at 800 MPa and 550 °C had the lowest magnetic loss and electrical resistivity, and highest magnetic induction and effective permeability in comparison with other samples compacted at 800 MPa and room temperature, 150, 250, 350 and 450 °C.