Conclusions and outlook

We have seen in this article that amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys have found their place among soft ferromagnets. There are many applications, and in Europe, they tend to focus on product quality for specific uses.

As regards the future of ribbons and their uses, we need to separate the low-frequency range (50 Hz and up to a few kilohertz) from the high-frequency range (10 kHz to 10 MHz).

One of the problems that has held back the use of amorphous ribbons for distribution transformers (50 or 60 Hz) is their current low thickness (20-30 μm), which leads to devices with a relatively low filling coefficient (typically 0.9).

Research has been carried out by manufacturers to increase thicknesses by modifying ribbon preparation parameters; for example, the thermal conductivity of the wheel can be increased and its...