Patent Grant
10566127
This application is a U.S. National Stage Application, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/US2015/064461, filed Dec. 8, 2015, which in turn claims priority benefit to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/566,907, filed Dec. 11, 2014.
The present invention relates to an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon, and a transformer core formed thereby.
Iron-based amorphous alloy ribbons exhibit excellent soft magnetic properties including low magnetic loss under AC excitation, finding their applications in energy-efficient magnetic devices such as transformers, motors, generators, etc. In these devices, ferromagnetic materials with high saturation magnetization and thermal stability with small core loss and exciting power are preferred. Fe—B—Si-based amorphous alloys meet these requirements. However, higher saturation magnetization is required for these amorphous alloys to reduce the size of transformers, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,789 discloses a metal alloy strip having a composition represented by the formula of FeaBbSic, wherein a, b and c are atomic percentages ranging from about 79 to less than 80, greater than 10 and up to 16, and 5 to 10, respectively, with the sum of a, b, and c being 100, and b being greater than c, the alloy strip having a core loss of less than about 0.22 W/kg at 60 Hz and an induction value within 1.0-1.5 Tesla, and the alloy having effective amounts of boron and silicon such that the strip is at least singularly ductile and is at least 75% in an amorphous phase. Though this metal alloy strip has high magnetic induction with small core loss and exciting power, our research has revealed that when bent with a small radius of curvature to form transformers, it likely has large internal stress, which cannot sufficiently be removed even by a heat treatment, resulting in a relatively large core loss and exciting power.
JP 9-143640 A discloses a wide, amorphous alloy ribbon used for power transformer cores having a composition represented by the chemical formula of FeaBbSicCd, wherein a, b, c and d are numbers (atomic %) meeting 78.5≤a≤81, 9.5≤b≤13, 8≤c≤12.5, and 0.4≤d≤1.5, the ribbon being cast in an atmosphere containing 40% or more by volume of a carbon dioxide gas by a single-roll, liquid-quenching method, the as-cast ribbon having a width of 70 mm or more, and a roll-contacting surface of the as-cast ribbon having a centerline-averaged roughness Ra of 0.7 μm or less. JP 9-143640 A describes that this wide, amorphous alloy ribbon has excellent magnetic properties, thermal stability, workability, and productivity, suitable for power transformer cores.
However, because 8-12.5 atomic % of Si is contained in this wide, amorphous alloy ribbon of JP 9-143640 A, it has been found that relatively large internal stress remains in a core formed by laminating and bending this amorphous alloy ribbon, even after a heat treatment. In addition, though FIGS. 1-9 in JP 9-143640 A show wider ranges of Fe, B, Si and C than those recited in the claims, the specification of JP 9-143640 A exhibits only examples of Fe—B—Si—C amorphous alloys with 79 atomic % of Fe. The chemical compositions specifically shown in JP 9-143640 A are limited to Fe79B11.5Si9C0.5 (
US 2012/0062351 A1 discloses a ferromagnetic, amorphous alloy ribbon having a composition represented by FeaSibBcCd, wherein 80.5≤a≤83 atomic %, 0.5≤b≤6 atomic %, 12≤c≤16.5 atomic %, 0.01≤d≤1 atomic %, with a+b+c+d=100, and incidental impurities; the alloy ribbon being cast from a molten alloy with a surface tension of greater than or equal to 1.1 N/m on a chill body surface; the ribbon having protrusions on the surface facing the chill body surface; the protrusions being measured in terms of height and their number; the protrusion height exceeding 3 μm and less than four times the ribbon thickness; and the number of protrusions being less than 10 within 1.5 in of the ribbon length; and the ribbon in its annealed straight strip form having a saturation magnetic induction exceeding 1.60 T and exhibiting a magnetic core loss of less than 0.14 W/kg when measured at 60 Hz and at 1.3 T induction level. However, our research has revealed that a transformer core formed by laminating and bending this ferromagnetic, amorphous alloy ribbon with a small radius of curvature likely has large internal stress, which cannot sufficiently be removed even by a heat treatment.
WO 2013/137118 A1 discloses an amorphous alloy ribbon comprising Fe, Si, B, C and inevitable impurities; the amount of Si being 8.5-9.5 atomic %, and the amount of B being 10.0-12.0 atomic %, when the total amount of Fe, Si and B is 100 atomic %; the amount of C being 0.2-0.6 atomic %, per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B; the ribbon having a thickness of 10-40 μm, and a width of 100-300 mm. WO 2013/137118 A1 describes that this amorphous alloy ribbon has a high space factor and magnetic flux density with suppressed brittleness. However, our research has revealed that a transformer core formed by laminating and bending this amorphous alloy ribbon with a small radius of curvature likely has large internal stress, which cannot sufficiently be removed even by a heat treatment.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon having high saturation magnetization with small core loss and exciting power, which can be laminated and bent with a small radius of curvature to provide a transformer core, whose internal stress can be sufficiently removed by a heat treatment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a transformer core formed by such an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon, which is operable with low core loss and exciting power.
Thus, the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention has a composition comprising 80.0-80.7 atomic % of Fe, 6.1-7.99 atomic % of Si, and 11.5-13.2 atomic % of B, the total amount of Fe, Si and B being 100 atomic %, and further comprising 0.2-0.45 atomic % of C per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B, except for inevitable impurities.
The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention preferably has a stress relief degree of 92% or more.
The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention is as thick as preferably 20-30 μm, more preferably 22-27 μm.
The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention preferably has a width of 100 mm or more.
The transformer core of the present invention is formed by a laminate of the above Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon.
The transformer core of the present invention preferably has curved corners each having a radius of curvature of 2-10 mm.
The transformer core of the present invention preferably has core loss of less than 0.20 W/kg at 50 Hz and 1.3 T.
[I] Fe—Si—B—C-Based Amorphous Alloy Ribbon
(A) Composition
The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention indispensably comprises Fe, Si, B and C. Among these indispensable elements, Fe, Si and B should meet the conditions shown in
(1) Indispensable Elements
(a) Fe: 80.0-80.7 Atomic %
Fe is a main component in the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention. In order that the amorphous alloy ribbon has as high a saturation magnetization as possible, the Fe content is preferably as high as possible. However, too much Fe makes it difficult to form an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon. Accordingly, the Fe content is restricted to 80.0-80.7 atomic %. The lower limit of the Fe content is preferably 80.05 atomic %, more preferably 80.1 atomic %. The upper limit of the Fe content is preferably 80.65 atomic %, more preferably 80.6 atomic %.
(b) Si: 6.1-7.99 Atomic %
Si is an element necessary for forming an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon with sufficient saturation magnetization. When Si is less than 6.1 atomic %, it is unstable to produce the Fe—Si—B—C amorphous alloy ribbon. On the other hand, when Si is more than 7.99 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based, amorphous alloy is too brittle. The lower limit of the Si content is preferably 6.3 atomic %, more preferably 6.5 atomic %, further preferably 6.7 atomic %, most preferably 7.0 atomic %. The upper limit of the Si content is preferably 7.98 atomic %, more preferably 7.97 atomic %.
(c) B: 11.5-13.2 Atomic %
B is an element necessary for making an Fe—Si—B—C-based alloy ribbon amorphous. When B is less than 11.5 atomic %, it is difficult to obtain an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon stably. On the other hand, when B is more than 13.2 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon has a lower stress relief degree. The lower limit of the B content is preferably 11.6 atomic %, more preferably 11.7 atomic %. The upper limit of the B content is preferably 13.0 atomic %, more preferably 12.9 atomic %, most preferably 12.7 atomic %.
(d) C: 0.2-0.45 Atomic %
C is an element necessary for providing an Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon with a high stress relief degree. The amount of C is expressed by atomic % per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B. When C is less than 0.2 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon does not have a high stress relief degree. On the other hand, when C is more than 0.45 atomic %, the resultant Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is too brittle. The lower limit of the C content is preferably 0.25 atomic %, more preferably 0.30 atomic %. The upper limit of the C content is preferably 0.43 atomic %, more preferably 0.42 atomic %.
(2) Inevitable Impurities
The amorphous alloy ribbon may contain impurities such as Mn, Cr, Cu, Al, Mo, Zr, Nb, etc., which come from raw materials. Though the total amount of impurities is preferably as small as possible, it may be up to 1 atomic %, per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, Si and B.
(B) Size
(1) Thickness
To exhibit high performance when used for transformers, the amorphous alloy ribbon preferably has as large thickness as possible. However, it is more difficult to form a thicker amorphous alloy ribbon by rapid quenching, so that the resultant amorphous alloy ribbon is more brittle. This is particularly true when the alloy ribbon is as wide as 100 mm or more. In the present invention, the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is preferably as thick as 20-30 μm to have a large space factor when laminated to form a transformer core as shown in
(2) Width
Because a wider amorphous alloy ribbon easily provides a large transformer core, the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is preferably as wide as 120 mm or more. However, because a wider amorphous alloy ribbon is more difficult to produce, the practical upper limit of the width of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is 260 mm.
(C) Properties
Because the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention is cut to a proper length, and the resultant amorphous alloy ribbon pieces are laminated and bent to form a transformer core as shown in
How much internal stress is removed by a heat treatment is expressed by a stress relief degree. As shown in
The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention is characterized by having a stress relief degree of 92% or more. Because of as high a stress relief degree as 92% or more, a transformer core constituted by a bent laminate of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon pieces and subjected to a heat treatment for stress relief has high saturation magnetization with low core loss and exciting power. The preferred stress relief degree of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon is 94% or more.
[2] Production Method of Amorphous Alloy Ribbon
The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention can be produced by a quenching method, typically a single-roll quenching method. The single-roll quenching method comprises (1) ejecting an alloy melt having the above composition at 1250-1400° C. from a nozzle onto a rotating cooling roll, and (2) stripping the quenched alloy ribbon from the roll surface by blowing an inert gas into a gap between the alloy ribbon and the roll.
[3] Transformer Core
The transformer core formed by the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention is shown in
The transformer core 1 has a thickness T, which may usually be 10-200 mm, and a width W, which may usually be 100-260 mm. Each overlapped portion 2 of the transformer core 1 has a length Lo, which may usually be 30-500 mm, and a thickness To, which may usually be 10-400 mm, and a thickness T, which may usually be 10-300 mm, and a length A, which may usually be 150-1000 mm.
Because both ends of the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon pieces 1a are bent with as small a radius of curvature as 2-10 mm, preferably 5-7 mm, a strong internal stress is generated in the core 1. Accordingly, the core 1 is heat-treated at 300-400° C. for 30-360 minutes to remove internal stress.
The present invention will be explained in more detail referring to Examples below without intention of restricting the present invention thereto.
Each alloy melt at 1,350° C., which had the composition shown in Table 1, was ejected onto a rotating cooling roll, and the resultant amorphous alloy ribbon was stripped from the cooling roll by blowing a carbon dioxide gas into a gap between the amorphous alloy ribbon and the cooling roll. Each amorphous alloy ribbon shown in Table 1 had a thickness ranging from about 20 μm to about 35 μm and a width of 50.8 mm.
Each amorphous alloy ribbon was measured with respect to a Qurie temperature, a crystallization start temperature, the number of brittle fracture, an embrittlement start thickness, a stress relief degree, and core loss, by the methods described below.
(1) Qurie Temperature
The Qurie temperature of each amorphous alloy ribbon was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) with a heating rate of 20° C. per minute.
(2) Crystallization Start Temperature
The crystallization start temperature of each amorphous alloy ribbon was measured by DSC with a heating rate of 20° C. per minute.
(3) Number of Brittle Fracture
A test piece 4 shown in
A shearing force was applied to each notch 5 to tear each test piece 4a, 4a longitudinally to the other longitudinal end 4c. When fracture occurred during tearing in a longitudinal direction shown by the arrow L, a step Ts was formed in a longitudinal tearing line T1 as shown in
(4) Embrittlement Start Thickness
The embrittlement start thickness of each amorphous alloy ribbon was expressed by the thickness at which the number of brittle fracture reached 3, when the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon was increased stepwise.
(5) Stress Relief Degree
An amorphous alloy ribbon piece as long as 90 mm was cut out of each amorphous alloy ribbon as thick as 26-27 μm, wound to a cylindrical shape, inserted into a cylindrical quartz pipe shown in
Stress relief degree=[25 (mm)/measured outer diameter (mm)]×100(%).
(6) Core Loss and Exciting Power
Each amorphous alloy ribbon was wound to a transformer core, and its core loss and exciting power were measured under sinusoidal excitation with primary and secondary windings.
The Qurie temperature, crystallization start temperature, embrittlement start thickness and stress relief degree of Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4 are shown in Table 2. The relation between the stress relief degree and the thickness of the amorphous alloy ribbon in each of Examples 2 and 3 and Comparative Examples 1 and 3 is shown in
(1)Atomic % per 100 atomic % of the total amount of Fe, B and Si.
(1)Measured on the ribbons as thick as 26-27 μm.
As is clear from Tables 1 and 2, the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbons of Examples 1-4 had higher stress relief degrees than those of Comparative Examples 1-4, though they were not substantially different from each other with respect to a Qurie temperature, a crystallization start temperature and a embrittlement start thickness.
The comparison of
The comparison of
Transformer cores shown in
A 235 mm,
L0 110 mm,
T 75 mm,
W 142 mm,
T0 94 mm,
R 6.5 mm, and
Weight 84 kg.
Each transformer core was magnetized at 1.3 T and 50 Hz to measure core loss and exciting power. The results are shown in Table 3. It is clear from Table 3 that exciting power was lower in Example 3 than in Comparative Example 1 at all the annealing temperatures, though there were no significant differences in core loss between Example 3 and Comparative Example 1.
(1)Measured at 1.3 T and 50 Hz.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention.
Because the Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention can exhibit as large a stress relief degree as 92% or more when heat-treated in a wound or curved state, a magnetic core formed thereby does not have large internal stress after a heat treatment. As a result, it exhibits high saturation magnetization with small exciting power and core loss. The Fe—Si—B—C-based amorphous alloy ribbon of the present invention having such features is suitable for transformer cores.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2015/064461 | 12/8/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2016/094385 | 6/16/2016 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5593513 | Ramanan | Jan 1997 | A |
| 5593518 | Ramanan | Jan 1997 | A |
| 5833769 | Kogiku et al. | Nov 1998 | A |
| 5871593 | Fish | Feb 1999 | A |
| 5958153 | Sakamoto | Sep 1999 | A |
| 6471789 | Ames et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
| 7744703 | Imai et al. | Jun 2010 | B2 |
| 9881735 | Azuma | Jan 2018 | B2 |
| 9978497 | Azuma | May 2018 | B2 |
| 20030107523 | Yahata | Jun 2003 | A1 |
| 20060000524 | Ogawa | Jan 2006 | A1 |
| 20090242082 | Imai et al. | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20120048428 | Ogawa et al. | Mar 2012 | A1 |
| 20120049992 | Azuma et al. | Mar 2012 | A1 |
| 20120062351 | Theisen et al. | Mar 2012 | A1 |
| 20150050510 | Motegi | Feb 2015 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 9-143640 | Jun 1997 | JP |
| 3208051 | Jul 2001 | JP |
| 2006-312777 | Nov 2006 | JP |
| 2007-281314 | Oct 2007 | JP |
| 2009-7639 | Jan 2009 | JP |
| 2009-83856 | Apr 2009 | JP |
| WO 2013137118 | Sep 2013 | WO |
| WO-2013137118 | Sep 2013 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| “Amorphous Cores for Distribution Transformers,” Enpay Transformer Components, Dec. 31, 2011, retrieved from the internet: http://www.travek.elektrozavod.ru/sites/default/files/images/production/enpay/Amorphous%20Core%20Catalogue.pdf, XP55461162, 8 pgs. |
| Extended European Search Report dated Apr. 5, 2018, in corresponding European Patent Application No. 15866555.4, 9 pgs. |
| PCT Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Feb. 11, 2016 in co-pending International Patent Application No. PCT/US15/64461. |
| PCT International Search Report dated Feb. 11, 2016 in co-pending International Patent Application No. PCT/US15/64461. |
| Notice of Abandonment dated Nov. 25, 2016 in related U.S. Appl. No. 14/566,907. |
| U.S. Office Action dated Apr. 21, 2016 in related U.S. Appl. No. 14/566,907. |
| International Preliminary Report on Patentability dated Jun. 22, 2017 in corresponding International Patent Application No. PCT/US2015/064461. |
| Notice of Reason for Refusal dated Oct. 29, 2019 in related Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-527709 (6 pages). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170365392 A1 | Dec 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14566907 | Dec 2014 | US |
| Child | 15534381 | US |
