6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Theoretical Investigations of the phase stability and ductility of FeCo-Nb alloys

10 Jul 2026, 12:00
20m
Lecture Hall GH1 (University of the Western Cape)

Lecture Hall GH1

University of the Western Cape

Oral Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials

Speaker

Dr Ramogohlo Diale-Boshielo (Mintek)

Description

Fe-Co alloys have attracted much attention as magneto restrictive materials for use in power generators, transformers, motors and generators for aircraft, as well as magnetic shields due to their soft magnetic characteristics. However, B2 FeCo suffers brittleness at room temperature which affects formability. The ternary alloying with BCC refractory metals such as Niobium (Nb) was considered to enhance the ductility and workability of the binary system. In this study, density functional theory was used to investigate the structural, magnetic and mechanical properties in order to track the stability and ductility of Fe50Co50-xNbx (0 ≤ x ≤ 6) alloys. It was found that the calculated lattice parameters and magnetic moments of binary alloy are in good agreement with available theoretical data. The heats of formation of Fe50Co50-xNbx alloys were found to be negative, suggesting that the structures are thermodynamically stable. Furthermore, the magnetic moments decrease minimally with the addition of Nb. This suggests that these dopants are likely to minimally reduce the magnetism of Fe50Co50. It was also revealed that doping with Nb effectively enhances the ductility of the binary Fe50Co50 system. The findings suggest that Fe50Co50-xNbx alloys can be used in manufacturing magnetic components at low temperature through forming process.

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Author

Co-authors

Dineo Maepa (University of Limpopo) Prof. Hasani Chauke (University of Limpopo) Dr Joseph Moema (Mintek) Dr Maje Phasha (Mintek)

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