Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference - MAMC 2022

The most widely used soft magnetic alloys are still legacy silicon steels, even in demanding applications such as modern electric car motors. The widespread use of amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys with far superior soft magnetic properties is hindered by size restrictions enforced by their standard manufacturing methods. The laser powder bed fusion method can produce amorphous or nanocrystalline parts without the size restriction of classical methods. However, careful selection of processing parameters and chemical composition of multicomponent soft magnetic alloys is needed to print such materials successfully. There is currently a very limited offer of commercially available soft magnetic alloys in the form of a spherical powder needed for powder bed fusion techniques. Ultrasonic atomization is a novel powder production technology ideally suited for research and development needs for metal additive manufacturing. The technique allowed for the processing of two iron-based soft magnetic alloys with different glass forming abilities. The influence of atomizing frequency on atomized powders was studied. Particle size distribution was measured with laser diffraction methods and image analysis from scanning electron microscopy. The phase composition was determined with the X-Ray diffraction technique. Thermal properties of the powders were assed with the differential scanning calorimetry, and magnetic properties were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer. Both studied iron-based soft magnetic alloys were suitable for processing by laser powder bed fusion.