Study of the Soft Magnetic Properties of FeSiAl Magnetic Powder Cores by Compounding with Different Content of Epoxy Resin

FeSiAl is a commonly used soft magnetic material because of its high resistivity, low core loss, and low cost. In order to systematically study the effect of epoxy resin (EP) on the insulated coating and pressing effect of FeSiAl magnetic powders, six groups of composite powders and their corresponding soft magnetic powder cores (SMPCs) were prepared by changing the content of EP, and the soft magnetic properties of the powders and SMPCs were characterized. The results showed that FeSiAl powders exhibited good sphericity and morphology. The M(s) of FeSiAl/EP composite powders was between 117.4–124.8 emu·g(−1) after adding (0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1, 1.5, and 2 wt. %) EP. The permeability μ(e) of SMPCs increased first and then decreased with the increase in EP content. Among them, when the EP content was 1 wt. %, the corresponding SMPCs had the highest μ(e) and excellent DC bias performance (63%, 100 Oe). In the whole test frequency range (50~1000 kHz), SMPCs with 1 wt. % EP content had the lowest core loss (1733.9 mW·cm(−3) at 20 mT and 1000 kHz). After that, the loss separation study in the low-frequency range (50~250 kHz) was conducted, and the hysteresis loss and eddy current loss of SMPCs with 1 wt. % EP content were also the lowest. In addition, SMPCs also exhibited the best overall performance when the EP content was 1 wt. %. The results of this study can guide the design of composite insulation coating schemes and promote the development of soft magnetic materials for medium and high frequency applications.