Research to Investigate the Aging Characteristics of Samarium Cobalt Magnets.

Abstract : The objective of the work under this contract was the characterization of commercially produced, sintered SmCo5 magnets for various engineering applications. Of particular interest was the long-term stability of selected magnetic properties under environmental influences which simulate the operating conditions of the magnets in devices such as microwave tubes and rotating electrical machines. The research investigations into the aging characteristics of samarium-cobalt magnets were formulated to provide objective information on the sensitivity of the magnetic properties to: (1) Variables in the basic magnet manufacturing processes; (2) storage under varying conditions; (3) processing of the magnets into usable configurations; (4) usage under various adverse thermal, mechanical and demagnetizing loads representative of the environmental conditions likely to be encountered by the magnets in device applications.