A New Generation of Sustainable SMC Materials with Low Core Loss

Electrification pushes the agenda of soft magnetic material development, with increased demands on efficient low loss materials with minimal environmental impact. Soft Magnetic Composites (SMC) challenges traditional magnetic materials such as soft ferrites and electrical steels in applications with alternating magnetic fields, and can many times offer a solution that is more efficient and with lower carbon footprint. In comparison to those traditional materials, however, the relatively higher hysteresis has so far limited wide application of SMC. This paper presents a new material which combines an improved base powder and a newly developed water-based coating, into a product with lower hysteresis losses than any previous SMC material, combined with improvements in processing and application.This paper introduces Somaloy® 7P, discusses the effect of manufacturing process parameters, such as compaction, heat treatment atmosphere, on component performance. Furthermore, the effects of operating temperature on component properties are investigated.