Magnetic and mechanical properties of additive manufactured Fe-3wt.%Si material

Abstract

In this work, the Fe-3wt.%Si soft magnet with a very low porosity was obtained successfully via additive manufacturing of selective laser melting (SLM) after optimizing the SLM processing parameters. The magnetic properties under different conditions and the mechanical performances including microhardness, tensile properties and tribological behavior were investigated and described in detail. The results showed that the soft magnet exhibited a typical columnar structure with an oriented growth of building direction (BD) and a 〈001〉 texture along the BD. The selective laser melted (SLM) Fe-3wt.%Si magnet showed a typical soft magnetic property with a very low ratio between magnetization saturation (Ms) and residual magnetization (Mr). The power loss (P) at excitation frequency f = 50 Hz and maximum flux density B = 1 T in alternating current (AC) condition under the condition was 18.8 w/kg. Due to the relatively low microhardness, the magnet showed good mechanical performance with an elongation of 8.8%, ultimate tensile strength, yield strength of 562 MPa, 445 MPa, respectively. A mixed-mode of ductile and brittle failure was the dominant rupture mechanism. This SLM Fe-3wt.%Si magnet showed a good wear resistance with a relatively low wear rate of 5.3 × 10-5 mm3/(N•m). The adhesive wear and abrasive wear are the dominant wear mechanisms.