TechTalk: Industry News

The maximum operating temperature of a magnet is an important property, but it is simply the point beyond which the magnet will experience an irreversible loss in net magnetization. In actuality, a magnet will lose net magnetization as soon as it starts to heat up. This loss is called “reversible” as it is recovered as soon as the magnet cools back down. While avoiding irreversible loss may seem to be the primary concern, even reversible loss can cause a negative impact on a magnet’s performance because while the magnet does not permanently demagnetize, it may not generate enough field for a given application at a particular operating temperature.

In sizing and selecting magnets and custom magnetic assemblies, it is important to ask a number of questions about the working area in which the magnet will operate. The answers to these questions help deliver a higher level of success in providing a magnet that meets the fit, form, and function of the application. Three areas of concern that we’ll address are: air gap relative to holding force, workpiece conditions, and operating temperature. All of these represent important conditions for the magnet’s ultimate performance…

Designers and engineers that need to incorporate a magnet into their application are not often aware of the mechanical characteristics of magnetic alloys. Features that are commonly specified and produced on materials such as mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, or brass can be very difficult to produce on a magnet or incorporated into magnet assemblies…

As part of our ongoing effort to provide magnet-related resources that may be useful to those in the field, we have added to our collection of magnetic property calculation tools. This particular resource is a magnetic force calculation utility that aids in estimating the attractive (pull) force of Samarium Cobalt magnets.

There are limits to how much induced magnetism is possible in different materials and similar workpieces of varying size, shape and configuration. The principle of magnetic saturation observes that there is a point of diminishing returns at which attempting more externally applied magnetic field (H) will give rise to no additional magnetic induction (B). Increasing the thickness of a workpiece is generally beneficial. However, these changes will likely impact cost, mass, and possibly ease of manufacturing. It is therefore beneficial to understand and control for the magnetic saturation of materials during the design stage…

How do you QC a permanent magnet, magnetic assembly, or a piece of equipment utilizing magnets? There are several methods which will pass a Gage R & R, but they are generally unknown to people outside of the magnet industry…

Magnets are produced in a wide array of sizes, shapes, and strengths, but there are similarities between all magnetic materials.  They are all relatively brittle which when coupled with their magnetic strength present a number of issues.  They also invoke curiosity, and who hasn’t heard the adage of what curiosity did to the cat?  Handling…

A material’s magnetic permeability refers to its ability to align itself with a magnetic field. A high magnetic permeability indicates that a material easily aligns itself to a magnetic field. If it is difficult to align to the magnetic field, the material is said to have low magnetic permeability. Magnetic permeability can also be thought…

So the right type of magnet has been designed or selected for your application and now you’ve begun the task of finding a company that can supply the part, right? Well, it’s not always that easy as magnets are unlike other commodities and, in fact, they should not be treated as commodities at all. At…

As part of our ongoing effort to provide magnet-related resources that may be useful to those in the field, we have added to our collection of magnetic property calculation tools. This particular resource is a magnetic force calculation utility that aids in estimating the attractive (pull) force of Samarium Cobalt magnets.