Shock consolidation of Sm-Fe-N magnetic powders and magnetic properties

Sm2Fe17Nx compound is a prospective candidate as a material for high performance permanent magnets because of its good intrinsic magnetic properties with a curie temperature of 747 K, a room-temperature anisotropy field of 14 T and a room-temperature saturation magnetization of 1.5T. However, Sm2Fe17Nx compound decomposes to α-Fe and Sm nitride above 873 K and conventional powder metallurgy processing techniques fail to meet the processing requirements. Shock consolidation is a viable alternative to process this compound. Fully dense Sm2Fe17Nx bulk materials were fabricated by cylindrical explosive consolidation technique using water as a pressure transmitting medium. Explosive consolidation is performed under cold state and fully dense materials can be obtained without any degradation of the characteristics of the powder states. Sound compacts were obtained without any cracks or teas, and the value of (BH)max of Sm2Fe17Nx compact is 23.8 MGOe. (orig.)