Grain alignment in hexaferrite permanent magnets by compaction at room and elevated temperatures

Shape-controlled precursors enable grain alignment without using an applied magnetic field in the permanent magnet material strontium hexaferrite. The effect is investigated by conducting four series of experiments using different compaction methods: two cold and two hot compactions. The hypothesis is that magnetic short-circuiting will diminish the grain alignment (texture) in cold compacted samples. The two cold compactions were performed below the Curie temperature, one being a simple cold-pressing (CP) and the other being a cold-pressing followed by sintering (CPS). The CP samples showed a relatively weak texture and low remanent magnetisation, while the CPS method yielded a slightly sharpened texture and improved remanent magnetisation compared with CP. In the two hot compactions, the pressing was done above the Curie temperature, using spark plasma sintering (SPS) and induction pressing (IP). SPS and IP samples both showed remarkably sharper textures than the cold-pressed pellets, with roughly doubled texture strength, and consequently better remanent magnetisation. The bulk density of the hot compacted samples increased almost twofold compared with that of the cold compactions. Hot compaction outperforms cold compaction with regard to density, sharpness of texture and remanent magnetisation. This is explained by inter-particle magnetic short-circuiting during cold pressing, which hinders the alignment process and reduces the bulk density.