Fe-based amorphous soft-magnetic powder produced by spinning water atomization process (SWAP)

Fe-based amorphous powder was produced by a new atomization process "Spinning Water Atomization Process (SWAP)", having both high quenching rate and mass production potential. The composition of the alloys was Fe/sub 73/Si/sub 10/B/sub 15/C/sub 2/ and (Fe/sub 0.97/Cr/sub 0.03/)/sub 76/(Si/sub 0.5/B/sub 0.5/)/sub 22/C/sub 2/. The powders were in the amorphous state at particle size up to 300 /spl mu/m and exhibited good magnetic softness. The coercive force of powders was about 0.2-0.4 Oe. In addition, in spite of the water quenching, the oxygen content was at a fairly low level of about 100-200 ppm. The shapes of powders were spherical for finer particles and rather flat with round edges for larger ones, suitable for forming consolidated powder cores with high density. Furthermore, consolidated amorphous powder cores were also fabricated by hot-pressing techniques.