Some Important Information about Neodymium Magnet

Most of us are not very well acquainted with the various terminology used as far as Magnet Technology is concerned. In this small article, we have tried to provide some of the relevant information about Neodymium Magnet.

Rare Earth Magnets

Do you know Neodymium magnet is one of the family members of Rare earth magnets? Also, it is considered to be one of the most powerful and permanent magnet in the world. Technically, it is called NdFeB magnet or sometimes also referred to as NIB. The reason for this technical term is that the magnet mainly contains Neodymium which is Nd, Iron which is termed as Fe and Boron which is termed as B. Though it is a new invention, these days it has become easily affordable for everyday use.

Neodymium Grade

Do you know what do we mean by N35, N38, N42 and N38SH…? It is in fact different grades of Neodymium magnet, which signifies what are the materials associated with this variety of magnet. Generally, the number following N is considered to be the grade and as the number goes higher, the grade also becomes high and is considered to be a stronger magnet. Super strong neodymium magnets grade N52 is the highest grade of neodymium magnet. After the number if any letter is mentioned then it will be the temperature rating of the magnet. However, in some cases there is no letter after the number, which is the standard temperature of neodymium.

Plating or Coating

The composition of most of the neodymium magnets are Neodymium, Iron and Boron. In case you keep the magnet exposed then its iron content will get rusted. Therefore, in order to protect these magnets from corrosion a coating is applied on them. You can give different type of coatings, but generally it is preferred to give nickel coating.

In the market you can get these magnets with layers of nickel and copper and after that another coating of nickel is applied. Due to this triple coating the magnet becomes quite durable as compared to single nickel coated magnets. You can also get magnet with the coating of copper, epoxy, zinc, tin, silver and gold as well.

Machining

Neodymium is a very brittle material and can easily get cracked. Hence, it is difficult to be machined. While machining, due to heat the magnet may get demagnetized. Therefore, generally these magnets are not machined.

De-magnetization

Rare earth magnets are little different from other type of magnets. They have sky-scraping resistance to demagnetization. Therefore, if you drop these magnets it will not lose its magnetic property. However, if you heat them beyond 80 degree centigrade then its magnetic strength may reduce. Further if you heat it beyond Curie temperature i.e. 310 degree centigrade it will lose its magnetization.

Strength

Neodymium magnets have got an amazing strength. They are ten times stronger as compared to strongest ceramic magnets. If you are making use of any ceramic magnet in any of your project then you can replace it with a smaller size of neodymium magnet.