A SURVEY OF THE CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART IN HIGH-ENERGY-PRODUCT PERMANENT MAGNETS

PERMANENT MAGNETS (PM'S) ARE A KEY COMPONENT IN MANY OF TODAY'S MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND SUBSYSTEMS. APPLICATIONS INCLUDE MM AND MICROWAVE POWER TUBES FOR COMMUNICATIONS, AIRCRAFT/AEROSPACE VEHICLE CONTROL SURFACE ACTUATORS, AIRBORNE POWER SYSTEMS, AND INERTIAL GUIDANCE/STABILIZATION SYSTEMS. THE PUSH IN ALL OF THESE AREAS IS FOR HIGHER PERFORMANCE IN SMALLER PACKAGES; ADDITIONALLY, DEVICES ARE BEING USED IN EVER HARSHER ENVIRONMENTS, MOST NOTABLY AT TEMPERATURE EXTREMES OF HEAT AND COLD. UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS, EVEN THE BEST PM MATERIALS CAN RUN INTO SOME SEVERELY RESTRICTIVE LIMITS, AND THE NEEDED QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION ON MAGNETIC PROPERTIES AND STABILITY UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS IS STILL LARGELY UNAVAILABLE, KJC ASSOCIATES PROPOSES TO IDENTIFY IN DETAIL THE MAGNETIC CHARACTERISTICS WHICH ARE AND MAY SOON BE REQUIRED OF HIGH-ENERGY PERMANENT MAGNETS (HEPM'S) BY REVIEWING THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE AND TALKING TO DESIGN ENGINEERS. THE RESULT WOULD BE A HEPM "SPECIFICATION" WITH A VIEW TOWARD PRESENT AND FUTURE (10 YEARS) MAGNETIC MATERIALS NEEDS. WE PLAN TO SURVEY THE CURRENT STATE OF PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND ACTIVE R&D PROJECTS OF HEPM'S, WITH EMPHASIS ON ELEVATED TEMPERATURE BEHAVIOR. EXISTING MATERIALS WHICH MAY ALREADY MEET OUR "SPECIFICATION" WILL BE OBTAINED AND MAGNETICALLY CHARACTERIZED TO THE LIMITS DETERMINED BY OUR SPECIFICATION (AT LEAST -196 TO 300 DEG C).