fujitsu ree magnet replacement

Fujitsu technology breakthrough in bid to replace rare earth magnets

LONDON (Metal-Pages) 06-Sep-13. Japanese technology group, Fujitsu, said it has developed a complex 'magnetisation reversal' process following an intensive study, which could one day replace rare earth permanent magnets.

“This opens up new possibilities in the manufacture of electric motors, generators and other devices without relying on heavy rare earth elements,” the company said in a statement.

Fujitsu said it has successfully carried out a simulation of the technology, which relied on a large number of complex calculations carried out by a super computer and is a world first.

However, the theory behind the experiment is not new. Scientists have for many years believed that it is possible to achieve the properties of super magnets by creating the right molecular and crystaline structures in more common materials with manganese-aluminium and iron nitride being two possibilities.

The company has developed a magnetic simulation technology which focusses on finite-elements combined with micro-magnetics. This makes it possible to compute the magnetisation processes of magnetic materials with complex microstructures on a nanometer scale, which is many times smaller than conventional technology can manage.

However, doing the simulation required the use of its 'K' computer ranked as the most powerful in the world back in 2011 and has since been upgraded.

The company says the research opens the prospect for making powerful magnets, which do not require rare earths such as neodymium, samarium, gadolinium and dysprosium

The initiative is being supported by the the Elements Strategy Initiative Center for Magnetic Materials (ESICMM). The next step in the project is to develop a much larger magnetic simulator.