FeSiCr–RIP/CIP Soft-Magnetic Composites: Microstructure (EBSD-KAM), Core Loss, and DC-Bias for Molded Inductors

FeSiCr–RIP/CIP Soft-Magnetic Composites: Microstructure (EBSD-KAM), Core Loss, and DC-Bias for Molded Inductors | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article FeSiCr–RIP/CIP Soft-Magnetic Composites: Microstructure (EBSD-KAM), Core Loss, and DC-Bias for Molded Inductors Chang-Ting Yang, Yu-Fang Huang, Chun-Wei Tien, Kun-Yang Wu, Hung-Sang Huang, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7965248/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 08 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Soft magnetic composites (SMCs) based on Fe–Si–Cr (FeSiCr) are attractive for molded power inductors but can suffer from elevated core loss at high frequency. This work systematically benchmarks FeSiCr blended with three insulated, fine iron powders—silica-coated reduced iron powder (RIP), silica-coated carbonyl iron powder (CIP), and phosphate-treated CIP (CIP-P)—across 10–50 wt% and against single-powder baselines. Toroids pressed at 200 MPa and cured at 150°C were characterized for permeability µ(f) (100 kHz–1 MHz), B–H loss at 50 mT, DC-bias retention (15 A on T-cores), corrosion (salt spray), and microstructure via EBSD kernel average misorientation (KAM). A clear structure–property linkage emerges: higher KAM and low-angle boundary (LAGB) fractions correlate with higher coercivity and hysteresis loss, providing a quantitative microstrain–core loss descriptor. Blending exhibits a pore-filling optimum. For CIP/CIP-P, this occurs at ~ 20–30 wt%, maximizing permeability and minimizing hysteresis. For RIP, the permeability optimum is at ~ 10 wt%, while the minimum for hysteresis loss and coercivity occurs at ~ 30 wt%. Eddy-current loss reductions are strongest with silica-coated CIP/RIP; the phosphate interface (CIP-P) gives less high-frequency benefit. Under 15 A DC bias, all additives improved inductance retention compared to the FeSiCr baseline. The blends ranked in the order of RIP ≈ CIP ≫ CIP-P > FeSiCr, with RIP and CIP performing similarly at low-to-moderate loadings. This improvement reflects the higher M s of iron powders and the favorable EBSD metrics of RIP at low loading. Corrosion tolerance follows RIP ≈ CIP ≫ CIP-P, with mold-edge abrasion acting as the primary initiation site. Incorporating recycled RIP advances circular-economy goals while delivering best-in-class bias stability with competitive core loss when used near its pore-filling window. Soft Magnetic Composites (SMCs) FeSiCr Reduced Iron Powder (RIP) Core Loss Lattice Strain EBSD Kernel Average Misorientation (KAM) Power Inductors Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files supplementarymaterials.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 08 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7965248","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":542142523,"identity":"8c901300-ffc6-429d-91fd-036185862c05","order_by":0,"name":"Chang-Ting Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Industrial Technology Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chang-Ting","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":542142524,"identity":"b7accca8-b3ca-4b81-b733-e020823743f7","order_by":1,"name":"Yu-Fang Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Industrial Technology Research 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Inductors","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Soft Magnetic Composites (SMCs), FeSiCr, Reduced Iron Powder (RIP), Core Loss, Lattice Strain, EBSD, Kernel Average Misorientation (KAM), Power Inductors","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7965248/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7965248/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSoft magnetic composites (SMCs) based on Fe\u0026ndash;Si\u0026ndash;Cr (FeSiCr) are attractive for molded power inductors but can suffer from elevated core loss at high frequency. This work systematically benchmarks FeSiCr blended with three insulated, fine iron powders\u0026mdash;silica-coated reduced iron powder (RIP), silica-coated carbonyl iron powder (CIP), and phosphate-treated CIP (CIP-P)\u0026mdash;across 10\u0026ndash;50 wt% and against single-powder baselines. Toroids pressed at 200 MPa and cured at 150\u0026deg;C were characterized for permeability \u0026micro;(f) (100 kHz\u0026ndash;1 MHz), B\u0026ndash;H loss at 50 mT, DC-bias retention (15 A on T-cores), corrosion (salt spray), and microstructure via EBSD kernel average misorientation (KAM). A clear structure\u0026ndash;property linkage emerges: higher KAM and low-angle boundary (LAGB) fractions correlate with higher coercivity and hysteresis loss, providing a quantitative microstrain\u0026ndash;core loss descriptor. Blending exhibits a pore-filling optimum. For CIP/CIP-P, this occurs at ~\u0026thinsp;20\u0026ndash;30 wt%, maximizing permeability and minimizing hysteresis. For RIP, the permeability optimum is at ~\u0026thinsp;10 wt%, while the minimum for hysteresis loss and coercivity occurs at ~\u0026thinsp;30 wt%. Eddy-current loss reductions are strongest with silica-coated CIP/RIP; the phosphate interface (CIP-P) gives less high-frequency benefit. Under 15 A DC bias, all additives improved inductance retention compared to the FeSiCr baseline. The blends ranked in the order of RIP\u0026thinsp;\u0026asymp;\u0026thinsp;CIP ≫ CIP-P\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;FeSiCr, with RIP and CIP performing similarly at low-to-moderate loadings. This improvement reflects the higher M\u003csub\u003es\u003c/sub\u003e of iron powders and the favorable EBSD metrics of RIP at low loading. Corrosion tolerance follows RIP\u0026thinsp;\u0026asymp;\u0026thinsp;CIP ≫ CIP-P, with mold-edge abrasion acting as the primary initiation site. Incorporating recycled RIP advances circular-economy goals while delivering best-in-class bias stability with competitive core loss when used near its pore-filling window.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"FeSiCr–RIP/CIP Soft-Magnetic Composites: Microstructure (EBSD-KAM), Core Loss, and DC-Bias for Molded Inductors","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-10 03:16:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7965248/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"18e62380-bd43-4285-8a2d-11f402e7d5b8","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 10th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-09T16:06:23+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7965248","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-026-16887-9","journal":{"identity":"journal-of-materials-science-materials-in-electronics","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-08 15:59:37","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 8th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-10 03:16:13","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10854-026-16887-9","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-026-16887-9","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7965248","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7965248","identity":"rs-7965248","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}