PIM-like additive manufacturing and characterization of a MnZn ferrite magnetic core

Additive manufacturing offers flexibility in terms of shapes, and currently enables the printing of a variety of materials for electrical engineering. This article presents the fabrication and magnetic characterization of a MnZn soft ferrite toroidal core produced by additive manufacturing. The parts are manufactured using the PIM-like process for which the 3D printing step is performed using powder filled polymer pellets. After debinding and sintering steps, a dense core with magnetic performance comparable to that of a conventional ferrite is obtained. The process is an original one for the production of soft ferrite parts. Microstructural and magnetic characterizations were carried out to obtain its grain size and main magnetic properties, i.e. its hysteresis loops and associated power losses as a function of induction and frequency. The evolution of the temperature behavior of the ferrite is also presented.