One of the key ingredients for the production of high-efficiency electric motors, generators and alternators are permanent magnets, of which China was again the leading producer in 2024, with an output that covered 90% of world demand.
In the last two years, the focus has been on environmental sustainability, especially in Europe and the USA, countries where demand for rare earth elements (REE) is still strong and where, for this reason, permanent magnets continue to play a strategic role in industrial supply chain management.
In Europe and the USA, efforts are being made to create production processes based specifically on the concept of ‘circular economy’, using end-of-life magnets to produce new ones with stable performance, through different separation processes of the various elements.
Even today, the most strategic RREs for the production of magnets, also referred to as Heavy Rare Earths (HREE), are Disprosium (Dy) and Terbium (Tb). These two elements, used to produce Sintered Neodymium (NdFeB) magnets, are employed to a greater extent in grades above SH, where the Coercive Force and maximum operating temperature must be high to guarantee correct application performance.
Magnets with a special and advanced Grain Boundary Diffusion (GBD)
Garnet, through its partnership with one of the largest manufacturers of NdFeB magnets, is able to supply the market with magnets produced with a special and advanced Grain Boundary Diffusion (GBD) process that allows up to 50% less HREE to be used, guaranteeing stable magnetic performance even over time.
With this particular technology patented by the factory, born as an evolution of the more popular GBD process, it is possible to produce high-performance NdFeB magnets with Remanence (Br) values of up to 1.46T, Intrinsic Coercivity Force (HcJ) values of up to 3580 kA/m, Max Energy Product (BHmax) values of up to 56 MGOe and Max Working Temperature (Tw) values of up to 260°C.
This allows Garnet to evaluate, together with manufacturers of electric motors and generators, the most suitable magnet performance for each different application.
Other magnetic materials that Garnet supplies to motor manufacturers for various applications are Sm2Co17, magnets produced through a plastic injection process based on Neodymium, SmCo and Ferrite, with high mechanical performance and over-moulding and multi-component moulding capabilities, providing ready-to-go components for mass production.
Based on the needs of our electric motor customers, Garnet is also potential partner for the supply of made-in-Italy assembled rotors, in SPM or IPM configuration, with diameters up to 500 mm and lengths up to 450 mm.
In addition to the assembly of magnets with high-performance adhesives, we also offer sealing technologies such as resin encapsulation, steel tube encapsulation or thermoshrinking tube for motors that must operate at high speeds (up to 15,000 rpm).
In addition to the focus on the high quality of its magnets and performance, the supply of rotor assemblies is the added value that Garnet provides to all electric motor manufacturers in Europe.
