Due to the acceleration of power consumption and the threat of the greenhouse effect and corresponding environmental degradation, all industries have an obligation to reduce energy losses. Although increasing energy production can meet various human needs, it will also put pressure on natural resources and the environment. The best way to solve this problem is to reduce the core problem of electricity generation and conversion.
From generators to sockets, and finally to computer screens or hair dryers, all conversions are done by a simple device made of copper wire wound iron core. The iron core material is usually iron or silicon steel, the resistance of copper and the magnetization of the core material usually produce a large energy loss.
Iron-based soft magnetic composite materials are often referred to as ferromagnetic composite iron (FCI for short) or soft magnetic composite materials (SMC for short), and they are increasingly used in soft magnetic applications. Improving the performance of electrical equipments and creating high-quality applications have optimized the design and application of existing magnetic materials (such as soft magnetic composite materials, SMC).
These materials are produced by pressing iron and iron-based powder particles with a dielectric binder using powder metallurgy. In low frequency applications below 50 kHz, high-purity iron powder is used with thermosetting resin powder to replace the low-carbon steel lamination process. These applications include small motors, reluctance motors, and brushless DC motors-but they also require hard magnetic components to achieve efficient designs.
The progress of materials research has made the dream of using soft magnetic properties to produce high-quality materials become true. The production cost of SMC is even lower than silicon steel sheet. The advantages of SMC replacing the laminated core of traditional motors with SMC are obvious, and because of the low eddy current loss of SMC, the benefits also include the reduction of high-frequency tooth ripple loss, and the modular structure makes it easy to remove a single Modular unit, which is convenient for quick repair or replacement, the stator is easy to recycle and reduce bearing current.
The use of SMC in the automotive field will expand, such as solenoid valves, fuel injection, ignition coils, traction motors etc. Therefore, soft magnetic composite materials have great potential in electric vehicles. Due to its significant economic and environmental benefits, SMC materials have significant application potential in motors, especially in those complex structures. However, due to the outstanding shortcomings of SMC, for example, compared with lamination steels, its permeability and saturation magnetic flux density are lower, so this is the place that must be overcome in the future.
