Rare earth permanent magnets prepared by hot deformation process

Hot deformation is one of the primary methods for fabricating anisotropic rare earth permanent magnets. Firstly, rapidly quenched powder flakes with a nanocrystal structure are condensed into fully dense isotropic precursors using the hot-pressing process. The prepared isotropic precursors are then hot-deformed to produce high-anisotropy uniaxial bulk rare earth permanent magnets and a highly textured structure is produced via this process. The resulting magnets possess many advantages such as near-net-shape, outstanding corrosion resistance, and ultrafine-grain structure. The influence of the preparation parameters utilized in the hot-pressing and deformation processes on the magnetic properties and microstructure of the permanent magnets are systemically summarized in this report. As a near-net-shape technique, the hot deformation process has notable advantages with regard to the production of irregular shapes, especially for radially oriented ring-shaped magnets with high length-diameter ratios or thin walls. The difficulties associated with the fabrication of crack-free, homogeneous, and non-decentered ring-shaped magnets are substantially resolved through an emphasis on mold design, adjustment of deformation parameters, and application of theoretical simulation. Considering the characteristics of hot-deformed magnets which include grain shape and size, anisotropic distribution of intergranular phases, etc., investigation and improvement of the mechanical and electric properties, in addition to thermal stability, with the objective of improving the application of hot-deformed magnets or ring-shaped magnets, is of practical significance.