Texture inducement during HDDR processing of NdFeB

Summary form only given. Using the Hydrogenation Disproportionation Desorption Recombination (HDDR) process, anisotropic NdFeB-type powders with energy densities of currently up to (BH)/sub max/=342 kJ/m/sup 3/ can be prepared. Much effort has been put into the understanding of the mechanism of inducement of texture, but to date no completely satisfactory model has emerged. This work elucidates how texture in the recombined powder is generated by maintaining the original grain orientation of the cast material throughout the different processing stages and how this is effected by the processing parameters, most importantly the hydrogen pressure.