3D Printed Magnets Poster for Oak Ridge National Laboratory ARC Stem Institute

In this 2 week institute we learned about rare earth magnets and tested samples that were 3d printed.

1. `
3D Printing of High-Performance Rare Earth Magnets
Steven Bauer, Lee Kaltman, Haobo Wang, James Davis, and Parans Paranthaman
Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Appalachian STEM Academy 2023
Introduction

This project evaluates the strength of 3D printed rare earth
magnets with the goal of determining if this manufacturing
method produces magnets of comparable properties at a
comparable price. We investigated the impact of time and
temperature on the properties of 3D printed magnets.
Current mining, refining and production of rare earth metals
is limited to a few countries (Fig 1), with China being the
dominant player. The demand for using rare earth magnets
has increased dramatically (Fig 2) in the past decades due
to their use in practically every piece of electrical equipment
(Fig 3). With the rise in demand the price has also
increased (Fig 4).
Materials and Methods
•3D Magnetic Samples (Fig 7 & 8)
•Mettler Toledo Lab Scale (Fig 9)
•Dry and wet density apparatus
•Thermal oven
•Flux meter with Helmholtz Ring
Conclusions
•Magnetic strength decreases minimally as the time at
temperature increases.
•Magnetic strength is consistent up to 125 C.
•3D printed magnets have flux density comparable to
current production grade rare earth magnets.
Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to Critical Materials Institute, an Innovation Hub
supported by USDOE, EERE, Advanced Materials and
Manufacturing Technologies Office. Thank you to Parans
Paranthaman, Haobo Wang, and Jim Davis for guiding us with our
project and providing their research experience. Special thanks to
Shannon Turner and and Jessica Mosley of the ARC. We
appreciate the opportunity provided to us by Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Appalachian
Regional Commission.
Fig. 1: Rare Earth Mine Production
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2023
Fig. 2: Supply Demand Rare Earth Metal
Background
At present no manufacturing of these
high-performance rare-earth magnets
occurs in the United States. Novel
new methods to produce these
magnets would reduce our
dependence on importing these items.
High output electric motors, wind
turbine generators, hard drives, and
medical imaging require rare earth
magnets. Testing of the 3D printed
magnets is the focus of the project
(Fig 5).
Source: Adamas Intelligence, June 2019
Fig. 4: Rare Earth Pricing Fig. 3: Industry Uses of Magnets

Fig. 5 : 3D Printed Magnets
Source: Natural Resources Canada, February 2023
Further Considerations
•More research needs to be completed to create an
economically viable process to extract rare earth
metals from expired electronics, motors and
generators to create a circular economy.
•Industry players including magnet manufacturers and
major end users can license ORNL Intellectual
Property to scale up production, demonstrating
economic feasibility.
•3D printed magnets will allow for more customization
of manufactured designs.
Fig. 7: Test Magnet LL-57
Fig. 11: Thermal OvenFig. 10: Flux Meter and Helmholtz Coil
Fig. 9: Mettler Toledo Scale
Fig 12: Flux Density vs
Time at Temperature
Fig 13: Flux Density vs
Temperature
0.000
1.000
2.000
3.000
4.000
5.000
6.000
7.000
8.000
9.000
10.000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Flux
(kGs)
Time (Hr)
Average Flux Density vs Time at 100⁰C
LL-57
YY-5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Flux
(kGs)
Temperature ( ⁰C)
Flux Density vs Temperature
LL-5
YY-57
Results
•Flux density varies minimally over time at 100⁰C (Fig 12).
•Flux density decreases minimally as temperature
increases to 150⁰C (Fig 13).
Source: Refinitiv Datastream (Shanghai Metals Market)
Fig. 8: Test Magnet YY-5
Procedure
•Find average (mean) of dry and wet weights of each sample
prior to heating.
•Calculate the apparent density and volume of the samples
via dry and wet weights and supplied liquid density correction
factors.
•Input volume into Flux Meter and measure in triplicate both
positive and negative flux of sample in Helmholtz Ring (Fig
10).
•Place the samples in an oven (Fig 11) at desired temperature
for 20 hours.