Fe-Si-B-C-BASED AMORPHOUS ALLOY RIBBON AND TRANSFORMER CORE FORMED THEREBY

Abstract

An Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon as thick as 20-30 μm having a composition comprising 80.0-80.7 atomic % of Fe, 6.1-7.99 atomic % of Si, and 11.5-13.2 atomic % of B, the total amount of Fe, Si and B being 100 atomic %, and further comprising 0.2-0.45 atomic % of C per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B, except for inevitable impurities has a stress relief degree of 92% or more.

Claims

1. An Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon having a composition comprising 80.0-80.7 atomic % of Fe, 6.1-7.99 atomic % of Si, and 11.5-13.2 atomic % of B, the total amount of Fe, Si and B being 100 atomic %, and further comprising 0.2-0.45 atomic % of C per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B, except for inevitable impurities.

2. The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon according to claim 1, which has a stress relief degree of 92% or more.

3. The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon according to claim 1, which is as thick as 20-30 μm.

4. The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon according to claim 1, which is as thick as 22-27 μm.

5. The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon according to claim 1, which has a width of 100 mm or more.

6. A transformer core formed by a laminate of an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon having a composition comprising 80.0-80.7 atomic % of Fe, 6.1-7.99 atomic % of Si, and 11.5-13.2 atomic % of B, the total amount of Fe, Si and B being 100 atomic %, and further comprising 0.2-0.45 atomic % of C per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B, except for inevitable impurities.

7. The transformer core according to claim 6, wherein said Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon has a stress relief degree of 92% or more.

8. The transformer core according to claim 6, wherein said Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is as thick as 20-30 μm.

9. The transformer core according to claim 6, wherein said Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is as thick as 22-27 μm.

10. The transformer core according to claim 6, wherein said Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon has a width of 100 mm or more.

11. The transformer core according to claim 6, which has curved corners each having a radius of curvature of 2-10 mm.

12. The transformer core according to claim 6, which has core loss of less than 0.20 W/kg at 50 Hz and 1.3 T.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG. 1 is a ternary diagram showing the Fe—Si—B composition of the amorphous alloy of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 2(a) is a front view showing a transformer core.

[0020] FIG. 2(b) is a side view showing the transformer core of FIG. 2(a).

[0021] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a wound amorphous alloy ribbon piece inserted into a cylindrical quartz pipe.

[0022] FIG. 4(a) is a plan view showing a test piece cut out of each amorphous alloy ribbon of Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4.

[0023] FIG. 4(b) is a plan view showing test pieces for measuring the number of brittle fracture.

[0024] FIG. 4(c) is a partial schematic view showing a longitudinal tearing line with a step due to fracture.

[0025] FIG. 5(a) is a graph showing the relation between stress relief degree and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Comparative Example 1.

[0026] FIG. 5(b) is a graph showing the relation between stress relief degree and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Example 2.

[0027] FIG. 5(c) is a graph showing the relation between stress relief degree and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Example 3.

[0028] FIG. 5(d) is a graph showing the relation between stress relief degree and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Comparative Example 3.

[0029] FIG. 6(a) is a graph showing the relation between the number of brittle fracture and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Comparative Example 1.

[0030] FIG. 6(b) is a graph showing the relation between the number of brittle fracture and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Example 1.

[0031] FIG. 6(c) is a graph showing the relation between the number of brittle fracture and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Example 2.

[0032] FIG. 6(d) is a graph showing the relation between the number of brittle fracture and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Example 3.

[0033] FIG. 6(e) is a graph showing the relation between the number of brittle fracture and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Comparative Example 3.

[0034] FIG. 6(f) is a graph showing the relation between the number of brittle fracture and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in Comparative Example 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] [I] Fe—Si—B—C-Based Amorphous Alloy Ribbon

[0036] (A) Composition

[0037] The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention indispensably comprises Fe, Si, B and C. Among these indispensable elements, Fe, Si and B should meet the conditions shown in FIG. 1, which requires that Fe is 80.0-80.7 atomic %, Si is 6.1-7.99 atomic %, and B is 11.5-13.2 atomic %. C should be 0.2-0.45 atomic % per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B.

[0038] (1) Indispensable Elements

[0039] (a) Fe: 80.0-80.7 Atomic %

[0040] Fe is a main component in the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention. In order that the amorphous alloy ribbon has as high a saturation magnetization as possible, the Fe content is preferably as high as possible. However, too much Fe makes it difficult to form an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon. Accordingly, the Fe content is restricted to 80.0-80.7 atomic %. The lower limit of the Fe content is preferably 80.05 atomic %, more preferably 80.1 atomic %. The upper limit of the Fe content is preferably 80.65 atomic %, more preferably 80.6 atomic %.

[0041] (b) Si: 6.1-7.99 Atomic %

[0042] Si is an element necessary for forming an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon with sufficient saturation magnetization. When Si is less than 6.1 atomic %, it is unstable to produce the Fe—Si—B—C amorphous alloy ribbon. On the other hand, when Si is more than 7.99 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based, amorphous alloy is too brittle. The lower limit of the Si content is preferably 6.3 atomic %, more preferably 6.5 atomic %, further preferably 6.7 atomic %, most preferably 7.0 atomic %. The upper limit of the Si content is preferably 7.98 atomic %, more preferably 7.97 atomic %.

[0043] (c) B: 11.5-13.2 Atomic %

[0044] B is an element necessary for making an Fe—Si—B—C-based alloy ribbon amorphous. When B is less than 11.5 atomic %, it is difficult to obtain an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon stably. On the other hand, when B is more than 13.2 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon has a lower stress relief degree. The lower limit of the B content is preferably 11.6 atomic %, more preferably 11.7 atomic %. The upper limit of the B content is preferably 13.0 atomic %, more preferably 12.9 atomic %, most preferably 12.7 atomic %.

[0045] (d) C: 0.2-0.45 Atomic %

[0046] C is an element necessary for providing an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon with a high stress relief degree. The amount of C is expressed by atomic % per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B. When C is less than 0.2 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon does not have a high stress relief degree. On the other hand, when C is more than 0.45 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is too brittle. The lower limit of the C content is preferably 0.25 atomic %, more preferably 0.30 atomic %. The upper limit of the C content is preferably 0.43 atomic %, more preferably 0.42 atomic %.

[0047] (2) Inevitable Impurities

[0048] The amorphous alloy ribbon may contain impurities such as Mn, Cr, Cu, Al, Mo, Zr, Nb, etc., which come from raw materials. Though the total amount of impurities is preferably as small as possible, it may be up to 1 atomic %, per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B.

[0049] (B) Size

[0050] (1) Thickness

[0051] To exhibit high performance when used for transformers, the amorphous alloy ribbon preferably has as large thickness as possible. However, it is more difficult to form a thicker amorphous alloy ribbon by rapid quenching, so that the resultant amorphous alloy ribbon is more brittle. This is particularly true when the alloy ribbon is as wide as 100 mm or more. In the present invention, the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is preferably as thick as 20-30 μm to have a large space factor when laminated to form a transformer core as shown in FIG. 2. With respect to the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon, its upper limit is more preferably 27 μm, and its lower limit is more preferably 22 μm.

[0052] (2) Width

[0053] Because a wider amorphous alloy ribbon easily provides a large transformer core, the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is preferably as wide as 120 mm or more. However, because a wider amorphous alloy ribbon is more difficult to produce, the practical upper limit of the width of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is 260 mm.

[0054] (C) Properties

[0055] Because the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention is cut to a proper length, and the resultant amorphous alloy ribbon pieces are laminated and bent to form a transformer core as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), the amorphous alloy ribbon pieces are subject to strong internal stress particularly in bent portions. Because the internal stress deteriorates the magnetic properties of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon, the transformer core is subject to a heat treatment for removing the internal stress. It is thus important that internal stress is sufficiently removed by a heat treatment.

[0056] How much internal stress is removed by a heat treatment is expressed by a stress relief degree. As shown in FIG. 3, the measurement of the stress relief degree is carried out by inserting a wound amorphous alloy ribbon piece 10 of 90 mm in length into a cylindrical quartz pipe 5 having an inner diameter of 25 mm, heat-treating the amorphous alloy ribbon piece 10 at 360° C. for 120 minutes, cooling the cylindrical quartz pipe 5 to room temperature, taking the heat-treated amorphous alloy ribbon piece 10 out of the cylindrical quartz pipe 5, and measuring the outer diameter of the heat-treated, wound, amorphous alloy ribbon piece 10 in an unconstrained state, thereby determining the stress relief degree by the equation of stress relief degree=[25 (mm)/outer diameter (mm) of heat-treated, wound, amorphous alloy ribbon piece]×100(%). When the outer diameter of the heat-treated, wound, amorphous alloy ribbon piece 10 is equal to 25 mm, the inner diameter of the cylindrical quartz pipe 5, the stress relief degree is 100%, meaning that there is no spring-back.

[0057] The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention is characterized by having a stress relief degree of 92% or more. Because of as high a stress relief degree as 92% or more, a transformer core constituted by a bent laminate of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon pieces and subjected to a heat treatment for stress relief has high saturation magnetization with low core loss and exciting power. The preferred stress relief degree of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is 94% or more.

[0058] [2] Production Method of Amorphous Alloy Ribbon

[0059] The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention can be produced by a quenching method, typically a single-roll quenching method. The single-roll quenching method comprises (1) ejecting an alloy melt having the above composition at 1250-1400° C. from a nozzle onto a rotating cooling roll, and (2) stripping the quenched alloy ribbon from the roll surface by blowing an inert gas into a gap between the alloy ribbon and the roll.

[0060] [3] Transformer Core

[0061] The transformer core formed by the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b). The transformer core 1 is constituted by plural amorphous alloy ribbon pieces 1a, whose lengths are gradually increasing as they near the surface. Both end portions of each bent amorphous alloy ribbon piece 1a are alternately overlapped to form a cylindrical shape. As a result, the transformer core 1 has an overlapped portion 2.

[0062] The transformer core 1 has a thickness T, which may usually be 10-200 mm, and a width W, which may usually be 100-260 mm. Each overlapped portion 2 of the transformer core 1 has a length Lo, which may usually be 30-500 mm, and a thickness To, which may usually be 10-400 mm, and a thickness T, which may usually be 10-300 mm, and a length A, which may usually be 150-1000 mm.

[0063] Because both ends of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon pieces 1a are bent with as small a radius of curvature as 2-10 mm, preferably 5-7 mm, a strong internal stress is generated in the core 1. Accordingly, the core 1 is heat-treated at 300-400° C. for 30-360 minutes to remove internal stress.

[0064] The present invention will be explained in more detail referring to Examples below without intention of restricting the present invention thereto.

Examples 1-4, and Comparative Examples 1-4

[0065] Each alloy melt at 1,350° C., which had the composition shown in Table 1, was ejected onto a rotating cooling roll, and the resultant amorphous alloy ribbon was stripped from the cooling roll by blowing a carbon dioxide gas into a gap between the amorphous alloy ribbon and the cooling roll. Each amorphous alloy ribbon shown in Table 1 had a thickness ranging from about 20 μm to about 35 μm and a width of 50.8 mm.

[0066] Each amorphous alloy ribbon was measured with respect to a Qurie temperature, a crystallization start temperature, the number of brittle fracture, an embrittlement start thickness, a stress relief degree, and core loss, by the methods described below.

[0067] (1) Qurie Temperature

[0068] The Qurie temperature of each amorphous alloy ribbon was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) with a heating rate of 20° C. per minute.

[0069] (2) Crystallization Start Temperature

[0070] The crystallization start temperature of each amorphous alloy ribbon was measured by DSC with a heating rate of 20° C. per minute.

[0071] (3) Number of Brittle Fracture

[0072] A test piece 4 shown in FIG. 4(a), which was as long as 1250 mm, was cut out of each amorphous alloy ribbon of Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4, and equally divided to two test pieces 4a, 4a shown in FIG. 4(b) along a transverse centerline C. At one longitudinal end 4b, 4b of each test piece 4a, 4a, five notches 5 for tearing start were formed with equal intervals in a region within 6.4 mm from both transverse edges of the test piece 4a, 4a. Accordingly, 10 notches 5 in total were formed in both test pieces 4a, 4a.

[0073] A shearing force was applied to each notch 5 to tear each test piece 4a, 4a longitudinally to the other longitudinal end 4c. When fracture occurred during tearing in a longitudinal direction shown by the arrow L, a step Ts was formed in a longitudinal tearing line T.sub.1 as shown in FIG. 4(c), and the next longitudinal tearing line T.sub.2 started from the step Ts. Thus, brittle fracture occurred at one or more steps in each longitudinal tearing. When a transverse distance D between the longitudinal tearing line T.sub.1 and the next longitudinal tearing line T.sub.2 was 6 mm or more, it was judged that brittle fracture occurred. This judgment was conducted on all tearing lines starting from 10 notches 5, to determine the total number of fracture, which was regarded as the number of brittle fracture.

[0074] (4) Embrittlement Start Thickness

[0075] The embrittlement start thickness of each amorphous alloy ribbon was expressed by the thickness at which the number of brittle fracture reached 3, when the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon was increased stepwise.

[0076] (5) Stress Relief Degree

[0077] An amorphous alloy ribbon piece as long as 90 mm was cut out of each amorphous alloy ribbon as thick as 26-27 μm, wound to a cylindrical shape, inserted into a cylindrical quartz pipe shown in FIG. 3 and having an inner diameter of 25 mm, and heat-treated at 360° C. for 120 minutes. After the heat treatment, the wound amorphous alloy ribbon was taken out of the cylindrical quartz pipe, and left free such that its outer diameter expanded due to springback in an unconstrained state. The stress relief degree was determined from the measured outer diameter by the equation:

Stress relief degree=[25 (mm)/measured outer diameter (mm)]×100(%).

[0078] (6) Core Loss and Exciting Power

[0079] Each amorphous alloy ribbon was wound to a transformer core, and its core loss and exciting power were measured under sinusoidal excitation with primary and secondary windings.

[0080] The Qurie temperature, crystallization start temperature, embrittlement start thickness and stress relief degree of Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4 are shown in Table 2. The relation between the stress relief degree and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in each of Examples 2 and 3 and Comparative Examples 1 and 3 is shown in FIGS. 5(a) to 5(d). The relation between the number of brittle fracture and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in each of Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1, 3 and 4 is shown in FIGS. 6(a) to 6(f).

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Alloy Composition (atomic %) No. Fe B Si C.sup.(1) Comparative 79.59 11.29 9.12 0.40 Example 1 Comparative 79.24 11.39 9.37 0.36 Example 2 Example 1 80.27 11.76 7.97 0.33 Example 2 80.11 12.22 7.67 0.33 Example 3 80.46 12.50 7.05 0.33 Example 4 80.23 12.91 6.86 0.35 Comparative 80.89 13.34 5.77 0.33 Example 3 Comparative 80.45 17.58 1.97 0.33 Example 4 Note: .sup.(1)Atomic % per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, B and Si.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Crystallization Embrittlement Stress Qurie Start Start Relief Temperature Temperature Thickness Degree.sup.(1) No. (° C.) (° C.) (μm) (%) Comparative 404 515 26 90 Example 1 Comparative 405 515 26 91 Example 2 Example 1 397 510 26 94 Example 2 396 511 26 95 Example 3 387 505 29 93 Example 4 392 512 28 93 Comparative 382 507 29 89 Example 3 Comparative 387 495 26 89 Example 4 Note: .sup.(1)Measured on the ribbons as thick as 26-27 μm.

[0081] As is clear from Tables 1 and 2, the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbons of Examples 1-4 had higher stress relief degrees than those of Comparative Examples 1-4, though they were not substantially different from each other with respect to a Qurie temperature, a crystallization start temperature and a embrittlement start thickness.

[0082] The comparison of FIGS. 5(a) to 5(d) indicates that when the amorphous alloy ribbon was as thick as 27 μm or more, the stress relief degree was higher than 92% in Examples 2 and 3 and lower than 90% in Comparative Examples 1 and 3. This verifies that to have as high a stress relief degree as 92% or more, the composition requirements of the present invention should be met.

[0083] The comparison of FIGS. 6(a) to 6(f) indicates that when the amorphous alloy ribbon was as thick as 27 μm or more, the number of brittle fracture was as small as 20 or less in Examples 1-3 and as large as more than 25 in Comparative Examples 1, 3 and 4.

[0084] Transformer cores shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) were formed by the amorphous alloy ribbons of Comparative Example 1 as thick as 23 μm, and two amorphous alloy ribbons of Example 3 as thick as 23 μm and 26 μm, respectively, and annealed at temperatures ranging from 330° C. to 370° C. for 1 hour in a DC magnetic field of 2,000 A/m in a core circumference direction. In FIG. 2(a), R represents the minimum radius of curvature among those of curved corners. Each transformer core had the following size and weight:

[0085] A 235 mm,

[0086] L.sub.0 110 mm,

[0087] T 75 mm,

[0088] W 142 mm,

[0089] T.sub.0 94 mm,

[0090] R 6.5 mm, and

[0091] Weight 84 kg.

[0092] Each transformer core was magnetized at 1.3 T and 50 Hz to measure core loss and exciting power. The results are shown in Table 3. It is clear from Table 3 that exciting power was lower in Example 3 than in Comparative Example 1 at all the annealing temperatures, though there were no significant differences in core loss between Example 3 and Comparative Example 1.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Ribbon Annealing Core Exciting Thickness Temperature Loss.sup.(1) Power.sup.(1) No. (μm) (° C.) (W/kg) (VA/kg) Comparative 23 330 0.168 0.647 Example 1 340 0.152 0.378 350 0.147 0.270 360 0.150 0.247 370 0.157 0.233 Example 3 23 330 0.153 0.285 340 0.148 0.228 350 0.148 0.210 360 0.155 0.206 370 0.179 0.224 26 330 0.151 0.243 340 0.149 0.210 350 0.151 0.207 360 0.165 0.208 370 0.202 0.243 Note: .sup.(1)Measured at 1.3 T and 50 Hz.

[0093] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0094] Because the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention can exhibit as large a stress relief degree as 92% or more when heat-treated in a wound or curved state, a magnetic core formed thereby does not have large internal stress after a heat treatment. As a result, it exhibits high saturation magnetization with small exciting power and core loss. The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention having such features is suitable for transformer cores.