Polycrystalline Tb/Dy Alloy for Magnetostrictive Actuators

Research has shown that with suitable processing, one can produce a polycrystalline version of a terbium/dysprosium alloy suitable for use in a magnetostrictive actuator for generating small motions. Prior to this research, only the single-crystal version had been used, and that in only a limited number of applications. One advantage of polycrystalline Tb/Dy is that it costs much less than does the single-crystal version. A second advantage of the polycrystalline material is that the preload springs, which are necessary in most single-crystal applications, can be eliminated in many cases.