Processing Technique of Samarium Cobalt

The bonded samarium cobalt materials are typically anisotropic and manufactured by using "binders" such as epoxy resins to hold the powder in place, rather than "sintering" the alloy. Energy products of the bonded magnet range from 5 MGOe to 15.1 MGOe. MCE offers two grades of the bonded samarium cobalt material.

Sintered Samarium Cobalt

Sintered Samarium Cobalt magnets are inherently very brittle, and conventional machining techniques cannot be used. If machining is required, high concentration diamond grinding wheels must be used, and water coolant is necessary. The grinding dust produced from machining Samarium Cobalt is a fire hazard when dry since it can reach an ignition point at low temperatures.   Samarium Cobalt powder can spontaneously ignite from just a small electrostatic spark.

Sintered Samarium Cobalt magnets, similar to other magnet materials are formulated for their magnetic properties and not their mechanical properties.  As such, they must not be used as mechanical members, or expect to exhibit superior mechanical characteristics.  As with sintered metullurgy, one should expect to find imperfections such as minor hairline cracks, porosity, voids, cold flow, shrinkage, pipe and others such as commonly found in cast or sintered metallic magnets.

Magnetizing Samarium Cobalt

Magnetizing Samarium Cobalt magnet materials require very large magnetizing fields to saturate the material. Fields in excess of 35,000 Oersteds should be used.  In the event the Samarium Cobalt magnet is inside an assembly and magnetized post assembly, greater fields are required to ensure saturation.

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