Which Rare Earth Magnets Do You Need?

How will you power your new product? Perhaps, the most likely option is electricity. Electricity can run everything, from small hand appliances to industrial and commercial machinery. However, there are other options. You could employ gas, solar or wind power to achieve the results you want. While powering the device is important, other forces will be needed to make it work. One of the most common forces is magnetism. Magnetism can be used in many ways, but it does have one serious disadvantage, it is a comparatively weak force, so to create more magnetism, a larger magnet is needed. Sometimes, big magnets are acceptable, but often there isn't the space within the product to accommodate a big magnet.

Increasing the power of magnetism

While traditional ferrite magnets are quite weak, by using rare earth magnets, you can achieve a much greater magnetic force with a small magnet. Rare earth magnets are used in sectors as diverse as transport, production, and medical supplies. If you are familiar with traditional magnets, you may know that they are produced from ferrite materials, or perhaps alnico. By contrast, rare earth magnets use neodymium, a metal that was not used for commercial magnet production before the 1980s. The increased magnetic power of rare earth magnets has allowed them to be used for large scale applications, such as MagLev trains, and also smaller applications that require a magnetic force much greater than could be supplied by a traditional magnet.

Different grades of rare earth magnets

All rare earth magnets will be more powerful than traditional magnets, but not all rare earth magnets are the same. When you visit any supplier of rare earth magnets, you will notice that magnets are available in a range of grades, and you must consider which magnet grade would be most suitable for your application. The primary factor that you must bear in mind when picking a grade of magnet is the environment where you want to use the magnet. Lower grades of magnets will be cheaper to purchase, but you can expect them to be more affected by environmental considerations. If you want to use a magnet somewhere that could expose it to temperature extremes, you could find that it doesn't work as expected if you purchase a lower grade. Exposure to rain and damp can cause corrosion. If you aren't sure which rare earth magnets would be most suitable for your application, your magnet supplier should be able to advise you.

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