National Institute for Materials Science, Japan scientists have succeeded in simulating the magnetization reversal of Nd-Fe-B neodymium iron boron magnets. The simulation was made possible by using large-scale finite element models construction based on tomographic data obtained by electron microscopy. The research paper discussing the work has been published in the journal npj Computational Materials.
Specifically, the tomographic data from a series of 2D images obtained by scanning electron microscopy SEM in combination with consistent focused ion beam FIB polishing can be converted into a high-quality 3D finite element model. This tomography-based approach is universal and can be applied to other polycrystalline materials addressing a wide range of materials science problems.