Could You Use Rare Earth Magnets?

If you use magnetism in any of your products, you may have noticed that magnets can weaken over time. Over a century, you can expect a standard ferrite magnet to lose almost 10% of its power. That may not be anything to cause concern, especially if the product using the magnet is not intended to last for that length of time. However, environmental conditions, particularly high temperatures can also adversely affect ferrite magnets, causing them to lose further magnetism and perhaps, causing your product to fail. If you have a product that operates close to its expected tolerance levels, it won't take too much heat for the magnet to stop working properly.

Are there any alternatives to ferrite magnets?

Ferrite magnets are well-established and will always have a place in the market, but rare earth neodymium magnets have become a popular alternative in recent years. Created by alloying iron and boron with neodymium rare earth magnets are far stronger than similarly sized ferrite magnets, and they can work well at a wider range of temperatures. The metals for rare earth magnets are generally mined in Asia, and the magnets are made there before being exported worldwide.

How can rare earth neodymium magnets be used?

Grades of rare earth neodymium magnets vary, but in all cases, you should expect a rare earth magnet to exert a much greater magnetic pull than a ferrite magnet, meaning that you can use a far smaller neodymium magnet than a ferrite magnet to do a similar job. Rare earth neodymium magnets are used in many ways. They can be found in items of jewellery where their small size makes them a much superior choice to ferrite magnets. They can also be used in industrial settings and even in the transport sector where they are a vital part of the propulsion system for trains.

Before selecting rare earth neodymium magnets for your purposes, check whether the grade you are looking at is a good fit for the environmental conditions under which your product will operate.

If your engineering team think that rare earth magnets could be a good fit for a product you are developing, talk to a magnet supplier today. They can explain what grades of magnet are available and what the operating constraints may be. They will help you find the perfect rare earth magnet for your product, whatever industry you may need to supply.