This article introduces the application characteristics of amorphous (nanocrystalline) materials and the potential issues encountered in practical use, particularly in the applications of magnetic cores, transformers, and inductors.
In summary, the main issues can be categorized as follows:
- Brittleness and Protection Methods: Amorphous ribbons and nanocrystalline ribbons are inherently brittle. Without proper surface treatment or encapsulation, they are prone to damage under external force. Common solutions include surface spraying and adding a protective shell. Spraying increases the surface strength of the material but does not change the properties of the base material, making it suitable for scenarios involving relatively small forces. For higher forces or more stringent reliability requirements, it is recommended to use the protective shell method.
- Noise Issues: Amorphous cores and nanocrystalline cores are prone to noise caused by the magnetostrictive effect, especially when there are gaps between the strips or dimensional deviations. This increases the noise problem, placing higher demands on the material quality, and the stability of the production process directly affects the final product performance.
- Production Process and Inconsistent Quality: Compared to ferrite materials, the production technology of amorphous (nanocrystalline) materials is relatively new, and the manufacturing process is not yet mature. This results in inconsistent quality, especially in large-scale production, which can lead to variations in inductance values.
- Cost Issues: Amorphous ribbons and nanocrystalline ribbons are relatively expensive, especially since nanocrystalline strips require the addition of costly niobium components. Moreover, due to the complexity of the production process and limited production volume, their costs are higher than that of ferrite materials. However, considering that amorphous materials can reduce winding turns, labor costs, enameled wire costs, copper loss, and heat generation, they can potentially offer better overall cost-effectiveness.
In practical applications, we need to consider costs comprehensively. While using amorphous (nanocrystalline) materials increases the cost of magnetic cores, it significantly reduces winding turns, labor costs, enameled wire costs, copper losses, and heat dissipation costs. Only through a comprehensive comparison can we determine whether the amorphous (nanocrystalline) solution is beneficial.
