I am sure you must have heard about rare earth magnet as they are very useful these days. Basically, rare earth magnets are those elements which are made of the alloys of all the rare earth elements. Rare earth materials are permanent in nature and they are much stronger than alnico and ferrite. They were developed around 1970s and 80s and they have the magnetic field of 1.4 tesla. They are extensively brittle and can corrode easily. To prevent them from corrosion and chipping they are usually coated with a protective shield.
The two most popular rare earth elements are samarium-cobalt and neodymium. In this article, I would mainly like to tell you about the essential features of these rare earth elements.
Neodymium Magnet
It is also known as Neo, NdFeB and NIB. It comes under the category of permanent elements and was discovered in 1980s. It is the strongest magnet known to man is made of the alloy of iron, boron and neodymium. All these elements together form the Nd2Fe14B tetragonal crystalline arrangement. This rare element has the highest magnetic field strength and has a great number of applications.
Use of Neodymium Magnet
The various uses of this strong element are stated below:
1. They are used for manufacturing synchronous, stepper and spindle motors.
2. They are also used to manufacture the head actuators for the HDDs used in computers.
3. Used for making couplings and bearings.
4. Are also used for resonance imaging
Samarium-cobalt magnets
This is also known as the SmCo5 was discovered in 1970s. It is a permanent magnet that is made of the alloy of cobalt and Samarium. They are costly, comparatively less strong than the Neodymium and have weak magnetic field. One advantage of this element is that it has a higher Curie temperature that is why it gets high temperature ratings. They are oxidation resistant but are highly vulnerable to chipping and cracking as they are very brittle. Eye protection is very essential while you are handling the Samarium-cobalt.
Uses of the Samarium-cobalt magnets
Some of the great uses of this permanent element are stated below:
1. They are used for manufacturing high speed motors and Turbo-machinery.
2. Used in equipments that requires functioning at cryogenic temperatures.
3. Traveling-wave tubes are designed with the help of this essential element
4. Are used for manufacturing certain musical instruments.
