From 11. Feb. 2019 to 22. Mar. 2019, I had the opportunity to join the Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Materials at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. My stay was hosted by Prof. Noriharu Yodoshi who is a recognized expert in the field of iron-based glass-forming alloys as well as the production of single monodisperse droplets.
The joint collaboration deals with the production of soft ferromagnetic powders and the subsequent powder consolidation. It is very challenging to produce amorphous iron-based powders based on commercial purity due to cooling rate limitations and kinetically related growth, leading to crystallization. These limitations require high cooling rates which cannot be realized with conventional gas atomization. Therefore, novel cooling strategies were developed during gas atomization to increase the heat transfer coefficient which resulted in higher cooling rates and finally in amorphous powders. The as-atomized amorphous powders were consolidated via Spark Plasma Sintering at Tohoku University and analyzed with respect to the magnetic properties. The substitution of traditional magnetic materials through amorphous soft ferromagnetic alloys would be a great contribution to meet the worldwide requirements of accelerated power consumption.
I am very grateful for the opportunity working with Professor Yodoshi and the research people I meet at Tohoku University. I had the chance to discuss my research with the leading experts in my scientific field which personally brought me a lot of scientific progress. I am also very thankful for Prof. Yodoshi’s patience conducting research together, as he was busy with his own research as well as teaching me about daily Japanese curiosities and amazing food.
Image capture:
The image was taken in Tokyo while we did sightseeing in a park. End of March is the time where the cherry blossoms (“Sakura”) start to grow and blooms across the entire country (“Hanami” time). Japan is a “happy country” during Hanami time, as people flock to parks, gardens, riversides to drink, eat, and be merry underneath the flowers.
