Do you know which soft magnetic materials are used to make motor cores? These materials fall into two main categories: soft magnetic alloy materials and soft magnetic powder materials. Both types offer excellent magnetic performance, making them ideal for optimizing stator and rotor efficiency.
What Types of Soft Magnetic Alloy Materials?
Soft magnetic alloys include two main types: iron-cobalt alloys and iron-nickel alloys. Let’s take a closer look at what makes each one unique.
Iron-Cobalt Alloys
Cobalt-Iron alloys are mainly composed of iron and cobalt, often with small amounts of vanadium or chromium added. These materials have high saturation magnetic induction, excellent permeability, and low coercivity.
1J22
International Grade Comparison
| China | USA | UK | Russia | France | Janpan |
| 1J22 | Hiperco50 / Supermendur | Permendur | 50KΦ | AFK502 | SME SMEV |
Chemical Composition
| Cobalt | Vanadium | Niobium | Nickel | Carbon | Iron |
| 49.0%~51.0% | 0.80%-2.00% | 0.10%-0.50% | ≤0.150% | ≤0.030% | Balance |
Mechanical Properties
0.35mm strip
| Product | 0.2% YIELD STRENGTH | ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH | ELONGATION |
| Strip 0.35mm | ≥370Mpa | ≥850Mpa | ≥10% |
Magnetic Properties
0.35mm strip
| B（TESLA) A/m | B160 | B400 | B800 | B1600 | B4000 | B6000 | B8000 |
| T(KG) | 1.35 | 1.95 | 2.10 | 2.20 | 2.23 | 2.25 | 2.30 |
Key Features
Saturation magnetic flux density up to 2.4T
Curie temperature up to 980°C
Very high magnetostriction (60–100×10⁻⁶)
Low resistivity (0.27 µΩ·m), not ideal for high-frequency applications
Application
Used in servo motor cores, brushless motor cores, and transformer cores
Hiperco 50
Characteristics
Hiperco 50 is notable for its high magnetic saturation (24 kilogauss) and high DC maximum permeability. It has low DC coercive force and low AC core loss.
Applications
Rotor and stator laminations in motors and generators for aircraft power generation
1J27
International Grade Comparison
| China | USA |
| 1J27 | Hiperco27 |
Chemical Composition
| Cobalt | Chromium | Silicon | Nickel | Manganese | Iron |
| 27.00% | 0.60% | 0.25% | ≤0.60% | ≤0.25% | Balance |
Mechanical Properties
0.25mm strip
| Product | 0.2% YIELD STRENGTH | ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH | ELONGATION |
| Strip 0.35mm | ≤400Mpa | ≤570Mpa | ≥18% |
Magnetic Properties
0.25mm strip
| B（TESLA) A/m | B2400 | B4000 | B8000 | B12000 | B16000 |
| T(KG) | 1.84 | 1.95 | 2.11 | 2.22 | 2.32 |
Key Features
High magnetic flux density up to 2.36T
Excellent Curie temperature
Good toughness and ductility
Less brittle than 1J22 and more permeable
Application
Used in motor and transformer lamination stacks
Iron-Nickel Alloys
Nickel-Iron alloys contain iron and nickel as their main components. The nickel content plays a key role in determining performance. Adding nickel improves corrosion resistance, heat resistance, and mechanical strength. Other elements like chromium, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, and carbon also influence material properties.
1J50
International Grade Comparison
| China | USA | Germany |
| 1J50 | HiPerm 49/ Vacodur 49 | Permenorm 5000 V5/ VDM MAG 50 |
Chemical Composition
| Nickel | Mn | Si | C | S | Iron |
| 49-50.5% | 0.30-0.60% | 0.15-0.30% | ≤0.03% | ≤0.02% | Balance |
Mechanical Properties
| Product | YIELD STRENGTH | ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH | ELONGATION |
| Strip 0.35mm | ≤300Mpa | ≤440Mpa | ≥32% |
Key Features
Saturation magnetic flux density up to 1.5T
High magnetic permeability
Excellent corrosion resistance
Application
Used in medium and high-frequency transformers
Vacodur 49
Characteristics
Vacodur 49 provides high magnetic saturation up to 2.3T and low coercivity down to 35A/m. It also boasts very high yield strength up to 800MPa.
Applications
High flux density and minimum weight applications in motor and generator laminations
1J85
International Grade Comparison
| China | USA | Germany |
| 1J85 | HyMu 80/ ULTRAVAC 80 | VDM MAG 7940 |
Chemical Composition
0.35mm strip
| Nickel | Mn | Si | C | S | Iron |
| 80% | 0.495 | 0.23% | ≤0.03% | ≤0.02% | Balance |
Key Features
Extremely high relative magnetic permeability (>100,000)
Very low coercivity (1.2 A/m)
Sensitive to stress
Application
Used in transformer lamination core
Soft Magnetic Powder Materials
Soft magnetic composites (SMC) use high-purity, highly compressible insulated powders. These powders include water-atomized iron, sponge iron, or iron-based alloys with elements like silicon, nickel, aluminum, or cobalt.
Each particle measures about 100 microns. Powder metallurgy (PM) allows shaping into complex parts. After heat treatment, the material becomes a new generation of soft magnetic material.
Common Grades
somaloy_somaloy-1p
somaloy_somaloy-3p
somaloy_somaloy-5p
Key Features
Excellent magnetic performance
Good mechanical strength
Low loss at high frequencies
Material utilization up to 97%
Application
Used in axial flux motor stator
Soft magnetic materials are essential for high-efficiency motor laminations. Their low coercivity and high permeability make them suitable for a wide range of applications. Each type of material offers unique advantages. Whether you’re designing for drones, lawn mowers, or aircraft generators, choosing the right material can significantly improve performance and efficiency.
Lamnow- Motor Lamination Material
we commonly use non-oriented silicon steel, oriented electrical steel, amorphous alloys, nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, and soft composite materials. the electric motor stator and rotor lamination used in EV motor, servo motor, stepper motor, and drone motor. If you need electrical motor core lamination, please contact us.
