Rare Earth Magnets - Explanation, Types, Applications, And FAQs

Types of Rare Earth Magnets

There are two types of rare earth magnets:

• Samarium-cobalt
• Neodymium

Samarium-cobalt and neodymium rare earth magnets have different strengths as well as magnetic and physical properties.

Samarium-Cobalt Magnets

• These are the first group of rare earth magnets discovered, which are less used unlike neodymium magnets owing to their cost being higher and magnetic field strength being weaker.
• The samarium-cobalt has a Curie temperature being higher and has a higher resistance to oxidation, but sintered samarium-cobalt magnets are fragile and vulnerable to chipping and cracking, and might crumble when exposed to thermal shock.

Advantages of Samarium-Cobalt Magnets

• They possess high corrosion resistance.
• They exhibit high-temperature stability.
• They have a high coercive force

Disadvantages of Samarium-Cobalt Magnets

• They are costly.
• They have low mechanical strength.

Neodymium Magnets:

• These types of magnets were discovered during the 1980s and are the most affordable and strongest type of rare-earth magnet. They are manufactured out of an alloy of iron, neodymium and boron, termed by the abbreviation NIB.
• Neodymium magnets have a higher coercivity. They are of use in various applications such as electric motors for jewelry clasps, hard disk drives, and magnetic hold-downs.

Advantages of Rare Earth Neodymium Magnets

• They have a high coercive force
• They are the strongest magnet in the market today
• They possess very high resistance to demagnetization
• They are the strongest magnetic material in the market today

Disadvantages of Rare Earth Neodymium Magnets

• They are moderately priced
• They possess a low mechanical strength
• They exhibit moderate temperature stability
• They possess low corrosion resistance

How are Rare Earth Magnets Made?

• Rare earth magnets are made from rare earth elements whose atomic numbers are between 57 and 71. The most common and strongest rare earth magnet is obtained from the alloys of neodymium, boron, and iron.
• To make rare earth magnets, solid ingots of neodymium, boron, and iron are ground into powder. This process of making a rare earth magnet consists of three phases.
• In the first phase, the ingots are crushed into coarse particles mechanically, in the second phase they are ground into finer particles. In the final phase, these particles are jet-milled into spherical particles with few micron diameters.
• In jet milling, high-pressure gas is used to make particles smaller as well as to maintain a specific size. This powder is transferred to steel moulds to get the shape of the magnet.
• Rubber moulds are used for neodymium alloy and this process is known as isostatic pressing.
• The magnetic properties are provided by applying a magnetic field of the range 4 Tesla.
• Liquid phase sintering is used after applying the magnetic field and the temperature used is 1000 °C.
• The final procedure is to coat the rare earth magnets based on their applications. There are many choices such as gold, nickel, zinc, and tin. But the most common is epoxy resin.

Uses of Rare Earth Magnets

Common Applications: 

Rare-earth magnets have some common applications that are as listed below:

• Bicycle dynamos
• Permanent magnet motors present in cordless tools
• Magnetic resonance imaging devices
• Audio headphones
• High-performance AC servo motors
• Computer hard disk drives
• Industrial uses such as maintaining product purity, equipment protection, and quality control
• Wind turbine generators
• Integrated starter-generators and traction motors generators in electric vehicles
• Fishing reel brakes

Other Applications of Rare Earth Magnets:

Other applications of rare-earth magnets include:

• LED Throwies
• Launched roller coaster
• Electrodynamic bearings
• Linear motors (used in magnetic levitation trains)
• Electric guitar pickups
• Stop motion animation
• Diamagnetic levitation experimentation – It is the study of the superconductor dynamics and magnetic field levitation
• Neodymium magnet toys

Difference Between Rare Earth Magnet and Ceramic Magnet

Parameter	Rare earth magnet	Ceramic magnet
Chemical composition	These are obtained from the rare earth elements	These are obtained from strontium and barium ferrite
Magnetic field strength	26 and 40 are the magnetic field strength of SmCo and NdFeB respectively	3.5 is the magnetic field strength
Resistance to thermal stress	150°C	300°C
Thermal stress beyond Tmax	310°	460°

Related Articles:

Earth’s Magnetism

What is a Magnet

Uses of Magnets

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Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

Q1

Why are rare earth magnets normally coated or plated?

Rare Earth magnets are brittle and are vulnerable to corrosion, so they are coated to protect them from breaking, chipping, or crumbling into powder.

Q2

What does the term “rare-earth” in rare-earth metals mean?

The term rare earth in rare earth metal can be misleading as some of these metals can be as abundant in the Earth’s crust as tin or lead, but rare earth ores are unevenly distributed, not existing in seams like coal or copper, so in any given cubic kilometre of crust they are “rare”.

Q3

Do neodymium magnets lose their strength over time?

Yes, but very little. They lose less than 1% of their strength every 10 years.

Q4

Are neodymium magnets sensitive to temperature?

Yes, neodymium magnets are sensitive to temperature. The heat will demagnetize the magnet.

Q5

Which is the strongest magnet in the world?

Neodymium is the strongest magnet in the world.

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