Reproduction of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet scraps using a binary alloy blending technique

Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet scraps were reproduced as the corresponding sintered magnets from the ground powders (mean particle less than or equal to 3 mum) by using a binary alloy blending technique. Although the magnets re-sintered from the as-ground powders only provided poor magnetic properties, especially the observed coercivity values (similar to20 kAm(-1)), the magnetic properties were considerably improved compared with the as-ground powders by adding an Nd-rich alloy (80 and 20 mass% for Nd and Fe, respectively) with the mass ratio of 90 (scrap powders) to 10 (Nd-rich alloy). Typical magnetic parameters of the recovered magnets were B-r = similar to1.21 T, H-cJ = similar to1.6 MAm-1 and (BH)(max) = similar to251 kJm(-3). It was found that the Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet scraps were reproduced as the practically usable magnets by the above process.