Electromagnetic processing of materials
Beyond heating, alternating magnetic fields do mechanical work on conductive materials. Fluxtrol’s published research describes AC magnetic systems used for material stirring, casting, pouring control, transportation and forming, working across frequencies from DC to several hundred kilohertz.
The magnetic circuits in these systems are made of laminations, ferrites or soft magnetic composites (SMCs), also known as magnetodielectric materials. Fluxtrol’s paper presented at EPM Dresden reviews these options and concentrates on SMCs.
Why SMCs for processing systems
According to that paper, SMCs:
- Are easily machined and can be shaped to any geometry
- Work well in 3D fields and can serve as structural components of the system
- Perform especially well at middle and high frequencies
- Have maximum permeability above one hundred in low- and mid-frequency grades, enough for open circuits or circuits with large gaps
- Can be combined with laminations, for example using laminations for regular sections and SMCs for complex 3D areas
See the SMC overview and the melting and stirring page for documented examples.
Powders and mixing
Powder processing and mixing are on our list of application areas, but we do not have published case studies to cite. Instead of generalizing, we work with customers directly to define the field, frequency and geometry of a given system.
What to bring to the first conversation
A short brief lets our engineers judge whether Fluxtrol can add value:
- The material being processed and its form, such as powder, liquid metal or solid
- The effect you need the field to produce, such as stirring, heating or force
- Operating frequency range and field strength
- Space, cooling and safety constraints around the system
- What is limiting performance today
We will say plainly what we can model, design or prototype, and where a project falls outside our experience.
Next steps
Contact Fluxtrol to discuss your material processing project, or explore R&D for emerging technologies .
Real-world results
Composite materials for magnetic field control in EPM
A paper presented at EPM Dresden by Nemkov, Ruffini and Kolesnichenko compares laminations, ferrites and soft magnetic composites for electromagnetic processing of materials, with a focus on SMCs.
- Fields range from DC to several hundred kilohertz
- SMCs can be machined to any geometry and work in 3D fields