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IMAGE: Oak Ridge National Laboratory is designing a neutronic research engine to evaluate new materials and designs for advanced vehicles using the facilities at the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL. view more
Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy, and the Southwest Research Institute.
EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020, 3 PM US EASTERN.
In the quest for advanced vehicles with higher energy efficiency and ultra-low emissions, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are accelerating a research engine that gives scientists and engineers an unprecedented view inside the atomic-level workings of combustion engines in real time.
The new capability is an engine built specifically to run inside a neutron beam line. This neutronic engine provides a unique sample environment that allows investigation of structural changes in new alloys designed for the environment of a high-temperature, advanced combustion engine operating in realistic conditions.
Making it tougher: Samarium cobalt magnet improvements planned in Ames Lab partnership
Ames Laboratory will partner with Electron Energy Corporation to improve a mainstay of magnet technology the samarium cobalt (SmCo) magnet.
Since their development in the 1960s, SmCo magnets have been a workhorse in modern technology, second only in strength to neodymium magnets. They are extremely resistant to demagnetization, and able to withstand high heat and corrosion.
That high magnetic power density and excellent temperature stability has made SmCo magnets the first choice for many uses, including military, spacecraft, aerospace, and marine applications.
The one downside to SmCo magnets? They are brittle. The process by which they are made, pressing metal powder into a solid mass, called sintering, makes them susceptible to chipping and fractures during the manufacturing process, as well as failure in any environment where there is too much vibration or mechanical shock.
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IMAGE: The Critical Materials Institute has developed a low-cost, high performance permanent magnet by drawing inspiration from an out-of-this-world source: iron-nickel alloys in meteorites. view more
Credit: photo credit: U.S. Department of Energy Ames Laboratory
The U.S. Department of Energy s (DOE s) Critical Materials Institute has developed a low-cost, high performance permanent magnet by drawing inspiration from an out-of-this-world source: iron-nickel alloys in meteorites. The magnet rivals widely used Alnico magnets in magnetic strength and has the potential to fill a strong demand for rare-earth- and cobalt-free magnets in the market.
Here on earth, the strongest permanent magnets are ones containing the rare earth element neodymium - NdFeB magnets. Next strongest are Samarium-Cobalt, or SmCo magnets. Before rare-earth magnets were developed in the 1970s, the strongest magnets were made of aluminum-nickel-cobalt, or Alnico, which are still in w