Influence of Cooling Condition of Casted Strips on Magnetic Properties of Nd–Fe–B Sintered Magnets

We investigated the additional (secondary) cooling effect of casted strips on the magnetic properties of Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets. The Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets were fabricated with the casted strips prepared without and with additional cooling. Additional cooling was achieved by blowing Ar gas at various pressures (0.1, 0.3, and 0.6 MPa) on the free-side surface of the strips during the strip-casting process. The higher magnetic properties of H_c, B_r, and (BH)_max of the final Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets were obtained for 0.1 MPa rather than for 0.0 MPa. The best microstructure of the columnar grains in the casted strips was produced with the aid of a lower pressure of gas on the free-side surface. It was found that the microstructure of the strips affects the distribution of grains grown in the sintered magnets. This report demonstrates that the improved magnetic performance of Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets was achieved via additional gas cooling.