J. F. Herbst
Chemical Sciences and Materials Systems Laboratory
General Motors R&D Center

Innovation via Insurrection: Nd-Fe-B Permanent Magnets
Over the past century the maximum energy product of the best permanent magnets has increased exponentially. Nd-Fe-B materials comprise the latest commercially viable class in that progression. Their discovery was stimulated to a large extent by civil war in Zaire during the late 1970s which severely hindered the availability of cobalt. By the early 1980s it was established that powerful iron-based hard magnets could be synthesized. The prototypical intermetallic Nd2Fe14B was identified as the compound responsible for their intrinsic properties. The larger issues in this story, especially the political problems in Africa, affected everyone working on high-performance permanent magnets around the world. For specifics the presentation will be confined to work at GM.

Steve Constantinides
Director of Technology
Arnold Magnetic Technologies Corporation

Undercover Magnets
Rare earth magnets play an essential role in transportation, office automation, homes, industry and national defense yet they are rarely seen or considered. We’ll look at selected applications and see why these are so dependent upon the extraordinary properties of rare earth magnets.

Eric Summers
Director of Materials Engineering
ETREMA Products, Inc.

Terfenol-D and magnetostrictive technology
Terfenol-D, a giant magnetostrictive alloy composed of Terbium (Tb) and Dysprosium (Dy) rare-earth elements along with Iron (Fe), was developed in the 1970’s by researchers at Naval Ordnance Laboratory and Ames Laboratory. Exhibiting large energy densities, moderate magnetic anisotropy, and large strain capability the cubic Laves phase, RFe2, for this compound was targeted by the US Navy for use in high powered sonar systems. In this presentation a history of Terfenol-D alloy development will be given including a brief look at the alloy’s properties. In addition, several areas that use Terfenol-D as the core technology will be discussed including industrial, commercial, and defense applications. The impact of the current rare-earth crisis on Terfenol-D alloy production and applications will be presented. This will include discussion on the development of a rare-earth free magnetostrictive alloy, Galfenol, as a potential material substitute. Composed of Iron (Fe) and Gallium (Ga), Galfenol exhibits a lower magnetostrictive response than Terfenol-D, but is a significantly more robust mechanical system. A property comparison between Terfenol-D and Galfenol will be provided in the talk followed by a summary and discussion on the future direction of magnetostrictive technology.

Mark A. Smith
President, CEO and Director
Molycorp, Inc.

Molycorp Minerals
Many advanced technologies today rely in some measure on rare earths for key functionality: hybrid and electric vehicles, wind turbines, computers, smart phones, IPads, superalloys, defense technologies, etc. The world currently relies on China for more than 97% of the rare earths we consume. However, China’s internal consumption of its own rare earths are forcing it to restrict what it exports to the world, leading to extraordinarily tight supply markets and outright shortages. Colorado-based Molycorp, Inc. is now building the world’s first fully integrated rare earth mine-to-magnets manufacturing supply chain. Molycorp President and CEO Mark Smith will discuss the global outlook for rare earth markets; the groundbreaking technologies being built into Molycorp’s manufacturing supply chain; the economics supporting Molycorp’s business plan; and how Molycorp will help the U.S. successfully compete in global rare earth markets.