Preparation method for a neodymium-iron-boron magnet

Abstract

The disclosure refers to a preparation method for NdFeB permanent magnet including:

a) Preparing main alloy flakes consisting of (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.xFe.sub.100-x-y-zB.sub.yM.sub.z,where M is at least one of Al,Co,Cu,Ga,Ti and Zr, 28.5 wt. % ≤x≤31.0 wt. %,0.85 wt. %≤y≤0.98 wt. % and 0.5 wt. %≤z≤5.0 wt. %;

b) Preparing auxiliary alloy flakes consisting of L.sub.uFe.sub.100-u-v-wB.sub.vM.sub.w,where L is at least one ofPr and Nd,M is at least one of Al,Co,Cu,Ga,Ti and Zr, 35.0 wt. %≤u≤45.0 wt. %,0 wt. %≤v≤5.0 wt. % and 2.0 wt. %≤w≤10.0 wt. %;

c) Mixing the main alloy flakes and the auxiliary alloy flakes in predetermined rate, then performing hydrogen decrepitation to produce alloy pieces,and then crushing the alloy pieces to alloy powder by jet milling;

d) Preparing a powder mixture including the alloy powder and added heavy rare earth powder consisting of at least one of Dy and Tb;

e) Pressing the powder mixture to a green compact while applying a magnetic field, and thermal treatment of the green compact in a vacuum furnace to obtain the NdFeB permanent magnet.

Claims

1. A preparation method for NdFeB permanent magnet, the method including the steps of: a) Preparing main alloy flakes consisting of (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.xFe.sub.100-x-y-zB.sub.yM.sub.z, where M is at least one of Al, Co, Cu, Ga,Ti and Zr, and x, y and z is 28.5 wt. %≤x≤31.0 wt. %, 0.85 wt. %≤y≤0.98 wt. % and 0.5 wt. %≤z≤5.0 wt. %; b) Preparing auxiliary alloy flakes consisting of L.sub.uFe.sub.100-u-v-wB.sub.vM.sub.w, where L is one or more of the metals Pr and Nd, M is at least one of Al, Co, Cu, Ga, Ti and Zr, and u,v and w is 35.0 wt. %≤u≤45.0 wt. %, 0 wt. %≤v≤5.0 wt. % and 2.0 wt. %≤w≤10.0 wt. %; c) Mixing the main alloy flakes and the auxiliary alloy flakes in a predetermined rate, then performing a hydrogen decrepitation to produce alloy pieces,and then crushing the alloy pieces to an alloy powder by jet milling; d) Preparing a powder mixture including the alloy powder and an added heavy rare earth powder consisting of at least one of Dy and Tb; and e) Pressing the powder mixture to a green compact while applying a magnetic field, and thermal treatment of the green compact in a vacuum furnace to obtain the NdFeB permanent magnet.

2. The preparation method of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary alloy includes Pr and Nd.

3. The preparation method of claim 2, wherein a content ratio of Pr to Nd is in the range of 0.25 to 1.

4. The preparation method of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary alloy flakes are added in proportion of 5 wt % to 20 wt % in step c).

5. The preparation method of claim 2, wherein the auxiliary alloy flakes are added in proportion of 5 wt % to 20 wt % in step c).

6. The preparation method of claim 3, wherein the auxiliary alloy flakes are added in proportion of 5 wt % to 20 wt % in step c).

7. The preparation method of claim 1, wherein the heavy rare earth powder, which is added in step d), has an average particle size D50 in the range of 1.0 μm-3.0 μm, the mass percentage of the heavy rare earth is in the range of 0.05%-1.0%, and the powder are mixed about 90-150 min.

8. The preparation method of claim 2, wherein the heavy rare earth powder, which is added in step d), has an average particle size D50 in the range of 1.0 μm-3.0 μm, the mass percentage of the heavy rare earth is in the range of 0.05%-1.0%, and the powder are mixed about 90-150 min.

9. The preparation method of claim 3, wherein the heavy rare earth powder, which is added in step d), has an average particle size D50 in the range of 1.0 μm-3.0 μm, the mass percentage of the heavy rare earth is in the range of 0.05%-1.0%, and the powder are mixed about 90-150 min.

10. The preparation method of claim 4, wherein the heavy rare earth powder, which is added in step d), has an average particle size D50 in the range of 1.0 μm-3.0 μm, the mass percentage of the heavy rare earth is in the range of 0.05%-1.0%, and the powder are mixed about 90-150 min.

12. The preparation method of claim 1, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) includes a sub-step of sintering the green compact at a temperature in the range of 850° C. to 950° C. for 2 to 5 hours, and then heating to 1030° C. to 1090° C. for 4 to 8 h.

13. The preparation method of claim 2, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) includes a sub-step of sintering the green compact at a temperature in the range of 850° C. to 950° C. for 2 to 5 hours, and then heating to 1030° C. to 1090° C. for 4 to 8 h.

14. The preparation method of claim 3, wherein the thermal treatment of, step e) includes a sub-step of sintering the green compact at a temperature in the range of 850° C. to 950° C. for 2 to 5 hours, and then heating to 1030° C. to 1090° C. for 4 to 8 h.

15. The preparation method of claim 4, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) includes a sub-step of sintering the green compact at a temperature in the range of 850° C. to 950° C. for 2 to 5 hours, and then heating to 1030° C. to 1090° C. for 4 to 8 h.

16. The preparation method of claim 7, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) includes a sub-step of sintering the green compact at a temperature in the range of 850° C. to 950° C. for 2 to 5 hours, and then heating to 1030° C. to 1090° C. for 4 to 8 h.

17. The preparation method of claim 12, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) further includes the sub-steps of cooling the sintered green compact, and then annealing the sintered compact at a temperature in the range of 800° C. to 900° C. for 2 to 4 hours and then at a temperature in the range of 450° C. to 550° C. for 3 to 6 hours.

18. The preparation method of claim 13, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) further includes the sub-steps of cooling the sintered green compact, and then annealing the sintered compact at a temperature in the range of 800° C. to 900° C. for 2 to 4 hours and then at a temperature in the range of 450° C. to 550° C. for 3 to 6 hours.

19. The preparation method of claim 14, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) further includes the sub-steps of cooling the sintered green compact, and then annealing the sintered compact at a temperature in the range of 800° C. to 900° C. for 2 to 4 hours and then at a temperature in the range of 450° C. to 550° C. for 3 to 6 hours.

20. The preparation method of claim 15, wherein the thermal treatment of step e) further includes the sub-steps of cooling the sintered green compact, and then annealing the sintered compact at a temperature in the range of 800° C. to 900° C. for 2 to 4 hours and then at a temperature in the range of 450° C. to 550° C. for 3 to 6 hours.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0020] The following disclosure provides a preparation method for a sintered NdFeB magnet having of high remanence and high coercivity by adding a low amount of a heavy rare earth metal.

[0021] Only a low amount of a heavy rare earth powder (Dy and/or Tb) is added during the preparation of the sintered NdFeB magnet. A low melting alloy without heavy rare earth metals is added for forming the grain boundary phase and then the heavy rare earth powder with a mass percentage in the range of 0.05 wt % to 1.0 wt % based on the total weight of the composition. According to an embodiment, the method includes the following steps:

[0022] a) Main alloy flakes are provided. The composition of the main alloy flakes is set to (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.s).sub.xFe.sub.100-x-y-zB.sub.yM.sub.z, where M is at least one of Al, Co, Cu, Ga, Ti and Zr, and x, y and z is 28.5 wt. %≤x≤31.0 wt. %, 0.85 wt. %≤y≤0.98 wt. % and 0.5 wt. %≤z≤05.0 wt. %. The main alloy flakes do not contain a-Fe and the elements Dy or Tb.

[0023] b) Further, auxiliary alloy flakes are provided. The composition of the auxiliary alloy flakes can be set to L.sub.uFe.sub.100-u-v-wB.sub.vM.sub.w, where L is one or more of the metals Pr and Nd, M is at least one of Al, Co, Cu, Ga, Ti and Zr, and u, v and w is 35.0 wt. %≤u≤45.0 wt. %, 0 wt. %≤v≤5.0 wt. % and 2.0 wt. % ≤v≤10.0 wt. %.

[0024] c) The main alloy flakes and the auxiliary alloy flakes are mixed in an appropriate rate and then a hydrogen decrepitation is performed to produce smaller alloy pieces. The alloy pieces are pulverized to an alloy powder by jet milling.

[0025] d) A powder of the heavy rare earth elements Dy or Tb is added to the jet milled alloy powder of step c). The amount of the added heavy rare earth powder is in the range of 0.05 wt % to 1.0 wt % and the resulting powder mixture is mixed to uniformity using a mixer equipment.

[0026] e) The final alloy powder obtained by step d) is pressed to a green compact while applying a magnetic field. The green compact is pit into a vacuum furnace for thermal treatment, i.e. sintering and annealing the green compact to a sintered NdFeB magnet.

[0027] In step b), when Pr and Nd metal are both selected as a rare earth element L in the auxiliary alloy, the content ratio of Pr and Nd is 0.25 to 1. In other words, the auxiliary alloy may then include 4 times as much Pr than Nd (by weight) to equal amounts of Pr and Nd, but no excess of Nd.

[0028] The main alloy flakes and the auxiliary alloy flakes are mixed in step c). The resulting mixture shall include 5 wt % to 20 wt % of the auxiliary alloy flakes, i.e. the main alloy flakes represent 80 wt % to 95 wt % of said mixture.

[0029] In step d) a heavy rare earth powder is added, especially a Dy or Tb powder. An average particle size D50 of the heavy rare earth powder may be in the range 1.0 μm to 3.0 μm. The average particle diameter of the particles may be for example measured by a laser diffraction device using appropriate particle size standards. Specifically, the laser diffraction device is used to determine the particle diameter distribution of the particles, and this particle distribution is used to calculate the arithmetic average of particle diameters. More precisely, the particle size of a non-spherical particle may be determined by a dynamic light-scattering measurement method. Specifically, the size may be measured by ISO 13320 through the analysis of the light-scattering properties of the particles,

[0030] Further, a mass percentage of the added heavy rare earth powder may be in the range of 0.05 wt. % to 1.0 wt. %. The powders may be mixed about 90 to 150 min to obtain a final alloy powder.

[0031] In step e), the final alloy powder is pressed to a green compact while applying a magnetic field of 1.8 to 2.57. The green compact is put into a vacuum furnace to perform a sintering and annealing process. During the sintering process, the temperature is in the range of 850° C. to 950° C. for 2 to 5 hours and then raised to 1030° C. to1090° C. for 4 to 8 h. After cooling, the annealing process follows. The sintered green compact is first heated to a temperature in the range of 800° C. to 900° C. for 2 to 4 hours, and then the temperature is set to be in the range, of 450° C. to 500° C. for 3 to 6 hours.

[0032] The following technical advantages may result by performing the preparation process as described above:

[0033] The disclosure adopts the principle of diffusion for reference, adding heavy rare earth Dy or Tb powder to NdFeB alloy containing low melting point auxiliary phase alloy,

[0034] The heavy rare earth elements are carried by the auxiliary alloy having a lower melting point and evenly dispersed around the main phase in the sintering process. The Dy or Tb will diffuse into the magnet and enter the surface layer of the main phase particles, forming DyFeB or TbFeB phases with high H.sub.A. The coercivity is significantly improved while the remanence is not or only slightly reduced. The preparation process of magnets may be performed with reduced energy consumption and improved production efficiency compared to congenital processes.

[0035] In other words, a low melting auxiliary alloy without heavy rare earth content and a small amount of heavy rare earth Dy or Tb powders is added to the main alloy powder. The grain boundary phase formed by the auxiliary alloy having a lower melting point than the main alloy forms a high-fluidity phase carrying the heavy rare earth Dy or Tb distribution around the main phase of the main alloy. In the process of sintering, the heavy rare earth Dy or Tb powders diffuse into the surface of the main phase to realize the introduction of heavy rare earth elements. The auxiliary alloy is easy to form the grain boundary phase with uniform and continuous distribution, which will improve the coercivity during the annealing process.

[0036] This method can be widely used in the preparation and production of low weight rare earth high performance sintered NdFeB.

IMPLEMENTING EXAMPLE 1

[0037] The main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.40Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.3(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3 and the alloy flakes are obtained by a convectional strip casting process. The main alloy flakes and the auxiliary alloy flakes are mixed in proportion ratio of 9 to 1. The mixed flakes are put into a hydrogen treatment furnace for conventional hydrogen absorption and dehydrogenation. The obtained alloy pieces are mixed with an antioxidant and a lubricant, and is crushed into a powder by jet milling, wherein the powder has an average particle size D50 of 3.8 μm. A Dy powder having an average the particle size of 1.5 μm is added to the milled powder with a mass percentage rate of 0.5 wt % and the composition is mixed uniformly in a three-dimensional mixing machine for about 90 to 150 min. The mixed powder is pressed to a green compact while applying a magnetic field of 2.0 T. The green compact is put into a vacuum furnace to perform a thermal treatment including a sintering step and an annealing step. The sintering step is performed at 1050° C. for 6 hours. The annealing step is perfomed at 850° C. for 3 hours, and then the temperature is reduced to 500° C. for 3 hours.

IMPLEMENTING EXAMPLE 2

[0038] The preparation conditions are the same as in Implementing Example 1 except that the main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.40Fe.sub.bal(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3.

IMPLEMENTING EXAMPLE 3

[0039] The preparation conditions are the same as in Implementing Example 1 except that the main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.40Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.3(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3. Further, the Dy powder is added with an amount of 1.0 wt. %

IMPLEMENTING EXAMPLE 4

[0040] The preparation conditions are the same as in Implementing Example 1 except that the main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.40Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.3(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3. Further, 0.5 wt. % of a Tb powder with an average particle size of 1.0 μm instead of the Dy powder is added.

IMPLEMENTING EXAMPLE 5

[0041] The preparation conditions are the same as in Implementing Example 1 except that the main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is Pr.sub.40Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.3(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3.

IMPLEMENTING EXAMPLE 6

[0042] The preparation conditions are the same as in Implementing Example 1 except that the main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is Nd.sub.40Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.3(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3.

IMPLEMENTING EXAMPLE 7

[0043] The preparation conditions are the same as in Implementing Example 1 except that the main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is (Pr.sub.5Nd.sub.5).sub.40Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.3(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1

[0044] The NdFeB alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30.5Fe.sub.bal B.sub.0.9(CoCuAlGa).sub.2 and made into alloy flakes by, a strip casting process. The alloy flakes are put into a hydrogen treatment furnace for conventional hydrogen absorption and dehydrogenation. The obtained alloy pieces are mixed with an antioxidant and a lubricant, and are crushed into a powder by jet milling with an average particle size of 3.8 μm. The milled powder is pressed to a green compact while applying a magnetic field of 2.0 T. The green compact is put into a vacuum furnace to get the magnet. The sintering process is performed at 1050° C. for 6 hours, and the annealing treatment is performed at 850° C. for 3 hours, and then the temperature is reduced to 500° C. for 3 hours.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2

[0045] The main alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.30Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.95(CoCuAlGa)2 and the auxiliary alloy composition is (Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8).sub.40Fe.sub.balB.sub.0.3(CoCuAlGaTi).sub.3 are alloy flakes are made by a strip casting process. The main alloy flakes and the auxiliary alloy flakes are mixed in proportion ratio of 9 to 1, and the mixed flakes are put into a hydrogen treatment furnace for conventional hydrogen absorption and dehydrogenation. The obtained alloy pieces are mixed with an antioxidant and lubricant, and are crushed into a powder by jet milling with an average particle size of 3.8 μm. The mixed powders are pressed to a green compact while applying a magnetic field of 2.0 T. The green compact is put into a vacuum furnace to get the magnet. The sintering process is performed at 1050° C. for 6 hours. The annealing treatment is performed at 850° C. for 3 hours and then the temperature is reduced to 500° C. for 3 hours.

[0046] Process parameters and magnetic characteristics of Implementing Examples 1 to 7 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 are listed in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 process parameters of the examples Rare Adding B earth Adding of heavy content of type of rate of rare auxiliary auxiliary auxiliary earth Br Hcj alloy alloy alloy powder (T) (kA/m) Implementing 0.3 wt % Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8 10% Dy powder: 1.430 1393 example 1 0.5 wt. % powder size: 1.5 μm Implementing 0 wt % Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8 10% Dy powder: 1.433 1385 example 2 0.5 wt. % powder size: 1.5 μm Implementing 0.3 wt % Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8 10% Dy powder: 1.425 1457 example 3 1.0 wt. % powder size: 1.5 μm Implementing 0.3 wt % Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8 10% Tb powder: 1.435 1473 example 4 0.5 wt. % powder size: 1.0 μm Implementing 0.3 wt % Pr 10% Dy powder 1.428 1427 example 5 0.5 wt. % powder size: 1.5 μm Implementing 0.3 wt % Nd 10% Dy powder example 6 0.5 wt. % 1.433 1399 powder size: 1.5 μm Implementing 0.3 wt % Pr.sub.5Nd.sub.5 10% Dy powder 1.430 1411 example 7 0.5 wt. % powder size: 1.5 μm Comparative No Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8 No 0 1.440 1114 example 1 adding adding auxiliary alloy Comparative 0.3 wt % Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8 10% 0 1.440 1274 example 2

[0047] Compared with Comparative Example 1, the Implementing Examples 1 to 4 show improved coercivity by adding the auxiliary alloy with the rare earth elements Pr.sub.2Nd.sub.8.Compared with the Comparative Example 2 where no heavy rare earth powder is added, the Implementing Examples 1 to 3 show an improved magnetic coercivity. Comparing Implementing Examples 5 to 6 with Comparative Example 1, shows that adjusting the ratio of Pr and Nd of the auxiliary alloy also can improve the coercivity, especially when Pr and Nd metal are both selected, the improvement effect of coercivity is more obvious when the content of Pr increases.

[0048] The preparation method only uses a low amount of added heavy rare earth powder to improve the properties of the sintered NdFeB magnet. Due to the use of an auxiliary alloy, the formation of the grain boundary phase is improved and the heavy rare earth elements Dy or Tb are carried by the lower melting auxiliary alloy resulting in an evenly dispersion of the heavy rare earth metals around the main phase. Under the sintered temperature, the Dy or Tb will diffuse into the surface layer of the main phase, forming the desired DyFeB or TbFeB phase with high H.sub.A. Thereby, the coercivity can be significantly improved and remanence kept high.