Fe-based nanocrystalline FeBCCu soft magnetic alloys with high magnetic flux density

In this study, the magnetic properties and crystalline behavior of Fe84-xB10C6Cux (x - 0-1.3) alloys prepared by annealing the melt-spun ribbon have been investigated. A Cu element was added to this system with the aim of decreasing the coercivity because the addition of Cu clusters prior to the crystallization stimulates the nucleation of alpha-Fe primary crystals, which greatly influences the final microstructure. It is found that in the Fe84-xB10C6Cux alloy system, the coercivity decreases with increasing x and exhibits a minimum at around x - 1.0. When x - 1.0, the alloy exhibits excellent magnetic properties after the appropriate heat treatment with a high B-s of 1.78 T, low H-c of 5.1 A/m, and low core loss less than 4.3 W/kg at 1.0 T and 400 Hz that is about 55% of that of oriented Si-steel. These results indicate that the application of this alloy to power transformers will produce very large energy savings. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3549439