CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SINTERED Nd15Fe77B8 ALLOY

In this work the purpose is, in addition to the determination of microhardness, to get some information about the effect of heat treatment on the microstructure of the magnetic Nd15Fe77B8 alloy. For this study we have used an optical microscope and an electronic microprobe. The results show that the structure of the Nd2Fe14B phase, which confers good mechanical and magnetic properties on the alloy, is well tetragonal, as mentioned in several works. The morphology, the concentration and the quantity of this phase depend on the temperature of annealing. The microhardness of the phase has an average value between those of the other involved phases.