Bonded Magnets: A Major Force for the 21st Century

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POLYMER BONDED MAGNETS 2000

Presented by: Dr. John Ormerod

VP Bonded Magnets and Technology

March 28, 2000

Bonded Magnets: A Major Force for the 21st Century

♦ The objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of the Bonded Magnet Industry as it exists today and make some predictions for the future.

♦ Bonded Magnets cover a very wide range of materials, technologies and markets -- it is not a monolithic entity. My challenge is to present a fresh perspective and insight to the subject and provide an introduction to some of the more detailed presentations which follow.

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• Market opportunities: from advertising to zero PPM

• Process and products: current and future

• Success through customer and market dedication

• Future applications and solutions


♦ These are the broad subject areas I intend to cover:

◊ 1. Markets and applications

◊ 2. Describe the major Bonded Magnet forming processes and highlight some interesting new technologies and products

◊ 3. Highlight of the role of E-commerce in supporting a Global Bonded Magnet customer base

◊ 4. Conclude with future applications -- major issues and solutions

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Wide Spectrum of products and applications

♦ This slide is intended to illustrate the diverse applications and markets bonded magnet products serve.

♦ Flexible sheet products are often laminated with a substrate to accept printed images. The major industry is the Ad Specialties and promotional market. A typical product is the ubiquitous fridge magnet where magnetics are of secondary importance and where flatness, printability, visuals are more important.

♦ Extruded magnets of various profiles are used in reprographic magnetic rolls or brushes which have a very different set of performance requirements.

♦ Injection molded are highly engineered parts with tight specifications for magnetics, mechanicals and physicals. They usually require a high capability (Cpk) and are often used in automotive applications requiring QS 9000 quality systems.

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Global Bonded Magnet Production (1999)

Flexible Ferrite

Molded Ferrite

Bonded Rare Earth

Total

Japan $50 $130 $210 $390

US $105 $45 $40 $190

SE Asia $15 $40 $50 $105

China $25 $45 $20 $90

Europe $10 $15 $15 $40

Other $10 $30 $20 $60

Total $215 $305 $355 $875

(All figures are USD x million)

♦ Looking at the Global production of Bonded Magnets, I have arrived at these estimates, excluding sound deadening applications of approximately $25 million. Sources of the data are JABM, Prof Luo and internal estimates.

♦ I’m not really convinced of the usefulness of these crude estimates, and one should always take into account the source: estimates range from $820 million (E consultant) to $1.6 billion (W consultant). My estimate given here is at the low end of the range.

♦ The long term growth rates are in the double digits.

♦ A few observations:

◊ Japan is the largest producer with 44%of the total. Their output fell in 1999 by 5% in Yen.

◊ They dominate the RE segment which is driven by small brushless motors for HDD and CD ROM applications which is 90% of consumption.

◊ The US dominates in flexible ferrite production with 50%. There is a large, developed market for printed AD Spec and promo magnets.

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Industry Dynamics

• Industry ownership changes/alliances/consolidation

• New entrants• Impact of Internet revolution• Key raw material issues• New products and technologies• New applications

♦ Bonded Magnets as a subset of the PM industry, is itself a very dynamic industry.

◊ Industry ownership changes: For example, Group Arnold acquired Plastiform, Flexmag and RJF and the injection molded business from Dynacast; Kane Magnetics acquired Anchor.

◊ Numerous Merger and Acquisition activities are rumored to be planned or underway.

◊ New entrants: Domestic businesses include Crumax, Magnetic Applications, Dexter and of course the numerous Asia Pacific and Chinese companies.

◊ Internet: This will be covered in more detail later. Global suppliers need a World Class web site. Major OEM’s have announced B2B will take place on the internet. In February of this year GM, Ford and Daimler/Chrysler announced they were collaborating on a single online procurement site estimated to have revenues of $6.9 B in 2002.

◊ Materials: MOI factor, DIC announced relocation/closure of their compounding facility.

◊ New Products/Markets: Bio-magnetics, Intelligent highway, PM alternator using bonded soft magnetic materials, starter-alternator hybrids are just a few that are in development.

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Serving customers needs and expectations

• Bonded magnet industry serves a wide spectrum of applications

• Require full range of process capabilities• Formal quality systems a must• Low cost, flexible manufacturing• Full service technical support• Innovative products and solutions

♦ What I have tried to emphasize is the wide range of technologies and capabilities of the bonded magnet industry together with the plethora of applications and served markets.

♦ A successful Bonded Magnet supplier needs the following:

◊ Full process capabilities with a formal ISO/QS 9000 based quality system

◊ Manufacturing processes with access to suppliers that can meet world market prices

◊ Full-service technical support

◊ Continuous flow of innovative products and application solutions

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♦ Overview the four major Bonded Magnet manufacturing technologies and highlights of some recent developments.

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Processing Capabilities: injection molding

COMPOUND

MOLD

MOLDED PART

INJECTION STROKE

CLAMPING

PRESSURE

HEATING SYSTEM

♦ Feed highly loaded Thermoplastic compound into the injection mold

♦ The molding may contain magnetic circuit(s) using either permanent magnets or an electromagnetic system to provide an orienting field

♦ The process can produce very precise and complex-featured components.

♦ It is highly capable with the ability to generate complex orientation patterns.

♦ Magnetization (during processing) and insert or overmold capabilities for assemblies are all possible.

♦ A vertical rotary high volume molding system is shown here.

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Processing Capabilities: extrusionCOMPOUND

HEATED DIE HEATING SYSTEM

TO COLLECTION

♦ Continuous extrusion of a highly loaded elastomeric or thermoplastic compound is used to produce continuous profiles of strip or sheet in a very efficient process.

♦ A strip extrusion process is shown.

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Processing Capabilities: calendering

FEED

TAKE-OFF ROLL

SURFACE “B”

SURFACE “A”

TO COLLECTION

♦ The calendering process utilizes highly loaded elastomeric compound to produce wide sheet.

♦ The ferrite powder is oriented mechanically during the calendering to produce anisotropic orientation.

♦ This photo is the output from an automated calender system.

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Processing Capabilities: compression molding

HYDRAULIC ORMECHANICAL RAM

PRESSED PART FROM

POWDER AND EPOXY,READY TO BE CUREDDIE

PUNCH

PRESS FRAME

♦ A uniaxial pressing process is used to manufacture compression bonded magnets.

♦ The binder is usually a thermosetting epoxy.

♦ The magnetic material is normally neodymium-iron-boron.

♦ It is rather straightforward to manufacture samples of simple geometry

♦ Compression bonded magnets have higher loading than molding, 78 versus 75 volume percent, resulting in higher BHmax.

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Processes and Products: Current and future

• High strength injection molded

• High energy extruded ferrite• Flexible injection molded

• Hybrids• Bonded soft magnetic materials

• SmFeN

• Multi material injection molding• Customized flexible binder systems

• Improved printability, Ink jet printable flexible sheets• Etc………………………..

♦ Some new developments are listed here.

♦ The first four are highlighted for discussion.

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High strength injection molding compound

Tensile strength

High strength

Nylon6/ferrite

Standard

Nylon 6/ferrite

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Te

ns

ile

str

en

gth

(p

si)

Tensile elongation

High strength

nylon 6/ferrite

Standard

nylon 6/ferrite

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Te

ns

ile

elo

ng

ati

on

(%

)

• Higher strength and elongation with an improvement in magnetics

• Useful for insert molding applications

• Parts operating at high speeds

• Current applications include wheel sensors, brushless D.C rotors

Example of High strength compound molded on large diameter hub (100 mm)

♦ When molding a thin-walled ring of compound over a large diameter hub, stress is produced when the thermoplastic shrinks upon cooling. This frequently results in cracking of the magnet material.

♦ Plastiform has developed a compound with both improved strength and elongation compared to standard ferrite-polyamide materials. This allows far thinner magnet wall dimensions which are desirable in sensor applications.

♦ A rotational speed sensor wheel is pictured here. The magnetic material is multi-pole magnetized and molded on a 100 mm diameter aluminum hub.

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High Energy Flexible Extruded Magnets

• Competitive price per performance• Thermoplastic resin binder system• Electromagnetic field orientation• Can be made in thick (25 mm) cross

sections• Higher rigidity than CPE and EEA

binders• 1.4 - 2.4 MGOe

N

S

PRICE (USD/LB.)E

NE

RG

Y P

RO

DU

CT

(M

GO

e)

PRICE VS. PERFORMANCE FOR FLEXIBLE EXTRUDED MAGNETS

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

isotropic

Mechanicalorientation

Field orientation

♦ Next we have developed a modified extrusion process and binder system that combines extrusion and injection molding technologies.

♦ Oriented, extruded strip with BHmax over 2 MGOe has been achieved.

♦ The primary application is for magnetic rollers/brushes for reprographic applications.

♦ Small motors are also a candidate for use of this material.

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Highly flexible injection molded magnets

• Utilizes TPE binder systems

• Combines advantages of flexible material with process capabilities of injection molding

• Complex shapes and magnetic orientation possibilities

• Current applications include cylinder position sensors and bio-magnetic applications

Tensile elongation

1030 NitrileHighly flexible

molded/ferrite

Standard

nylon 6/ferrite

0

5

10

15

20

25

Tens

ile e

long

atio

n (%

)

♦ Highly flexible injection moldable product combines the advantages of a flexible product with those of injection molding.

♦ Applications include position sensors and bio-magnetic applications.

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Hybrid bonded magnets

♦ This is a simple concept but requires process sophistication because of the differing specific requirements of the each magnetic material.

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Typical properties of common permanent magnet materials

0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5 3 00

5

1 0

1 5

Hci (kOe)

Br

(kG

au

ss

)

RARE EARTH

LEAN NdFeB

SINTERED FERRITE

BONDED SmCo

BONDED ANISO NdFeB

SINTERED SmCo

FULLY DENSE NdFeB

ALNICO

BONDED ISOTROPIC NdFeB

BONDED FERRITE

HYBRIDS

♦ Combinations of magnet powders can produce materials with unique characteristics.

♦ Magnetic properties are approximately the volumetric average of the constituents.

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Examples of injection molded hybrids

♦ Examples of injection molded hybrid magnet materials showing the “averaging” of Br and Hci.

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Examples of flexible hybrids

♦ And flexible hybrids.

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♦ One aspect as I mentioned earlier of being a World Class supplier to all potential customers of Bonded Magnets is the presence of an innovative web site and the move to E-commerce.

♦ I would like to spend a few moments highlighting some of the depth and unique features of the Group Arnold web site, indicating how it serves the magnetics community.

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grouparnoldgrouparnoldgrouparnoldgrouparnold.com .com .com .com

Group Arnold Web site

• Website launched january 21, 1999

• Visitors from over 30 countries

• Site visits: 150,000 annual rate

• Over 4 million hits per year

• Average session time 9-13 minutes

• Someone logs on to our website every 3 minutes

• “Magnetstuff.Com” launched in december

– Credit card transactions

– Phase one of e-commerce initiative

• Positioned as the industry internet portal

♦ The Web site has been in existence for just over one year and has grown to over a 4 million annual hit rate.

♦ Someone logs onto the site, on average, every 3 minutes.

♦ In addition to Group Arnold company and product information, the site includes technical information and industry news.

♦ The magnetstuff.com site is Group Arnold’s first E-commerce site and is phase one of a three phase effort to grow on-line transactions.

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Group Arnold Web site

Site contains over 400 external links to:•Industry organizations•Government organizations•Universities•Government Laboratories•Industry news sources•Industry Web sites

♦ The site is a treasure trove of information and links to magnetics related sites.

♦ Fresh information and news is regularly added.

♦ On average, the site is updated every two days.

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Group Arnold Home Page

♦ The site exemplifies simple navigation:

◊ Top navigation buttons lead to to major sections.

◊ Featured selections and Site Highlights are shown on the body of the page.

◊ The most recent news items are shown to the left and are linked to the full news article.

◊ A What’s New listing on the right identifies recent additions or changes to the site.

◊ Listing most of the new items on the home page eliminates searching through the site looking for what “might have changed”.

♦ By the time this presentation occurs, the information will have been updated: check for recent entries. For example, we plan to include a Consultants listing soon.

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Magnetics Technology Center

♦ The MTC (Magnetics Technology Center) is the starting point for reference materials, information and off-site links.

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Patent Database

♦ Magnetics related U.S. patent database: search by date/Patent #/inventor/full text keyword search.

♦ Links are also on this page to the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office), IBM Intellectual Property Database and others.

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Industry web directory

♦ A directory of companies who manufacture or distribute magnetic materials and which have Web sites is available.

♦ Over 250 companies are listed. Is your company here?

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Industry Associations

♦ Industry Associations are listed with contact information.

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University Links

♦ Universities with programs in magnetics and Web sites are listed with live links.

♦ Some of these sites are very informative.

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Industry News

♦ An example of a recent news article refers to information from the Japan Association of Bonded Magnet Manufacturers.

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♦ Let us now forecast the future of bonded magnets.

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Future applications, solutions and issues

• Bio-magnetic - Patent issues• Intelligent highway• Automotive• Bonded soft magnetics• Alternative RE powders• Bonded magnetic return paths

♦ Nikken holds a US patent claiming certain magnetic patterns for therapeutic uses and they have been very active taking legal action against several competitors accused of infringement. Rheinmagnet - Horst Baermann also has several patents related to magnetizing patterns and additional patents are rumored to have been filed.

♦ Automated highway systems utilizing magnetic sensing systems are being developed in the U.S. and Japan.

♦ Numerous applications involving, for example, hybrid starter/alternators or permanent magnet alternators, could utilize bonded magnets. Final design requirements will be influenced by the adoption of the 42 volt electrical system.

♦ Applications will increase for high frequency inductors utilizing bonded soft magnetic materials.

♦ Alternative magnetic materials include SmFeN, RE lean systems and anisotropic NdFeB.

♦ An example of a magnetic return path is the integrated molded D.C. motor can/magnet assembly.

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Conclusion

Bonded magnets will experience the highest growth rate of any class of permanent magneticmaterial over the next 5 to 10 years.

World Class bonded magnet suppliers need toprovide complete product range, innovativesolutions and extensive global technical support.

Bonded Magnets: A Major Force for the 21st Century

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