Annealing-induced property improvements in 2-14-1 powders produced by inert gas atomization

The effects of vacuum annealing on the phase constitution and magnetic properties of various size fractions of 3 alloy compositions produced by inert-gas atomization (IGA) are examined. Annealing results in the oxidation of properitectic /spl alpha/-Fe formed during cooling of the melt, producing considerable improvement in the hard magnetic properties of the powders largely via the removal of lower-anisotropy magnetic reversal regions.