Bismanol is an

magnetic alloy A magnetic alloy is a combination of various metals from the periodic table such as Ferrite (magnet), ferrite that contains at least one of the three main magnetic elements: iron, iron (Fe), nickel, nickel (Ni), or cobalt, cobalt (Co) etc.. Such an ...

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental ...

and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

(manganese bismuthide) developed by the US Naval Ordnance Laboratory.

History

Bismanol, a permanent magnet made from

powder metallurgy Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders. PM processes can reduce or eliminate the need for subtractive processes in manufacturing, lowering material losses and ...

of manganese bismuthide, was developed by the US Naval Ordnance Laboratory in the early 1950s – at the time of invention it was one of the highest coercive force permanent magnets available, at 3000

oersted The oersted (symbol Oe) is the coherent derived unit of the auxiliary magnetic field H in the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). It is equivalent to 1 dyne per maxwell. Difference between CGS and SI systems In the CGS system, ...

s. Coercive force reached 3650 oersteds and magnetic flux density 4800 by the mid 1950s. The material was generally strong, and stable to shock and vibration, but had a tendency to chip. Slow corrosion of the material occurred under normal conditions. The material was used to make permanent magnets for use in small electric motors. Bismanol magnets have been replaced by neodymium magnets which are both cheaper and superior in other ways, by samarium-cobalt magnets in more critical applications, and by

alnico Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...

magnets.

References

{{Reflist Magnetic alloys Ferromagnetic materials Bismuth Manganese