Investigation of the structural and magnetic properties of rapidly solidified Nd–Fe–B–Ce alloys

Abstract This study introduces the first literature report of rapidly solidified Nd–Fe–B–Ce alloys fabricated using the melt-spinning technique at varying disc rotation speeds. The resulting alloy images are then analyzed using various image processing techniques, and their structural and magnetic characteristics are described. The alloys are characterized using a variety of methods, including x-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), differential thermal analysis (DTA), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and Vickers microhardness tests. By using XRD, the tetragonal hard magnetic Nd 2 Fe 14 B phase is detected in the Nd 30 Fe 65 B 0.9 Ce 5 alloy. The FE-SEM microstructure analysis shows that the grain structure of the ingot alloy is indistinct, and the tetragonal symmetric structure begins to appear at disc rotation speeds of 20 m/s and 40 m/s. The analysis of FE-SEM images using histogram analysis, the image segmentation technique, and VSM method reveals that the coercivity values of the sample produced at the 80 m/s solidification speed increased by approximately 34% when compared to the ingot alloy.