In the smart factory of the Industry 4.0 era, countless motors are running with millimeter-level accuracy; Under the new energy vehicle chassis, the driving motor continues to output surging power; At the top of the tower of a wind turbine, permanent magnets are converting wind energy into clean electricity. Behind these scenes exists a seemingly ordinary but indispensable material - permanent magnet ferrite. This ceramic magnetic material composed of iron, barium, strontium and other elements is supporting the precision operation of the modern industrial system as an "industrial vitamin".
The history of permanent magnet ferrite is an evolutionary history of materials science. Since the 1950s, when Japan TDK Company realized industrial production, its magnetic energy product has increased from the initial 1MGOe to more than 5MGOe today, and the coercive force has broken through the 4000Oe mark. This progress is due to the breakthrough of crystal structure regulation technology, through rare earth doping and nanocomposite technology, the precise control of magnetic domain structure has been successfully achieved.
Compared with NdFeb and other rare earth permanent magnet materials, the biggest advantage of ferrite is its excellent industrial suitability. It can withstand extreme temperatures from -40 ° C to +250 ° C and maintain stable performance under harsh conditions such as humidity and vibration. The comparative test of an automobile engine factory in Suzhou shows that the failure rate of ferrite motors is only 1/3 of that of rare earth motors at the same cost. This reliability makes it widely used in industrial automation equipment, from the servo motor of injection molding machine to the linear motor of logistics sorting machine, ferrite magnetic steel silently supports every link of intelligent manufacturing.
In the wave of energy revolution, permanent magnet ferrite shows unique strategic value. The direct drive permanent magnet wind turbine developed by Goldwind Technology adopts ring ferrite magnetic circuit design, which increases the efficiency of the generator to 98.5% and prolongates the maintenance cycle by 3 times. In the field of new energy vehicles, the air conditioning compressor of Tesla Model3 uses ferrite motors, which save 20% energy than traditional solutions. What is more noteworthy is that ferrite materials are promoting the miniaturization revolution of industrial equipment, and the 8mm diameter ferrite micromotor developed by Nippon Electric Power has been successfully applied to medical robot surgical arms, achieving a motion accuracy of 0.01mm.
The environmental properties of this material are reshaping the path to industrial sustainability. The production of 1 ton of ferrite only produces 0.3 tons of carbon emissions, which is 1/5 of NdFeb materials. After the adoption of ferrite solution in an electric motor factory in Guangdong, the life-cycle carbon footprint of the product was reduced by 42%. In terms of resource recycling, the recycling rate of ferrite can reach more than 90%, and the crushing and sorting technology developed by a renewable resource enterprise in Jiangsu can increase the purity of ferrite powder in waste magnets to 99.7%.
The global industrial chain is undergoing profound changes. As the world's largest ferrite production base, China's annual output reaches 450,000 tons, accounting for 75% of the global share. But high-end products still rely on imports, Japanese FDK company's wide temperature and high permeability ferrite, the operating temperature range of -55℃ to +300℃, monopolizing the aerospace market. This competitive pattern forced industrial upgrading, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo Materials development of anisotropic bonded ferrite, magnetic energy product breakthrough 6MGOe, began to enter the field of industrial servo.
Standing at the turning point of the new industrial revolution, permanent magnet ferrite is breaking through the traditional cognitive boundaries. The ferrite-based magnetorheological fluid developed by BASF, Germany, reduces the response time to 5ms, bringing innovation to intelligent damping systems. This material, invented 60 years ago, continues to expand its application through continuous technological innovation. It is not only the power source of industrial equipment, but also the innovation catalyst in the era of intelligent manufacturing, in the visible future, permanent magnet ferrite will continue to take the posture of invisible champion, promote the evolution of industrial civilization to a more efficient, more intelligent and more sustainable direction.
