Mechanical properties of thermally cycled nylon bonded Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets

The effect of thermal cycling on the stress-strain behavior of polyamide (nylon) and polyphenylene-sulfide (PPS) based injection molded Nd-Fe-B magnets was investigated after test specimens were cycled between -40 and 150degreesC for 50, 500, or 5000 repetitions. It was found that PPS based magnets exhibit higher ultimate strengths, higher modulus and lower toughness than nylon based magnets. Furthermore, formulations containing platelet morphology particles exhibited higher strengths and modulus than those containing spherical morphology particles, with increases in particle volume fraction leading to a decrease in strength. Differences in strength, modulus, and toughness were attributed to the degree of bonding between the matrix and the magnet powder in the various formulations, the degree of crosslinking, along with the effects of powder morphology. Additionally, it was found that while the stiffness of these materials increased with thermal cycling, their toughness decreased significantly, by as much as 99%. The extent of these effects was found to be dependent on the polymer matrix, powder morphology, and volume fraction of powder in the magnet. Finally, it was found that the PPS composites showed less relative change due to thermal cycling than the Nylon composites. (C) 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.