Consolidated iron powder and ferrite cores

This chapter discusses the production and applications of iron powder and ferrite magnetic cores. More recently, iron and SiFe bulk components have been developed and commercialised for applications requiring mass produced, cheap, mechanically strong and dimensionally accurate net shape cores for magnetic components. These iron and silicon iron compressed components are commonly referred to as soft magnetic composite (SMC) cores or consolidated powder cores. General advances in powder metallurgy have resulted in their applications in many sectors, particularly as functional materials, replacing laminated cores for small motors and actuators in the automotive and aerospace industries. The authors focus on the magnetic properties of these cores such as magnetisation, magnetic permeability and loss components.