TU Wien team build 3D printed magnets with customised properties

The device allows for magnets to be manufactured in complex forms that exhibit precisely engineered magnetic fields. 3D printing magnets in this way could open up possibilities across a range of applications, from location services to biomedical imaging.

"The strength of a magnetic field is not the only factor," said Dieter Süss, head of the Christian-Doppler Advanced Magnetic Sensing and Materials laboratory at TU Wien.

"We often require special magnetic fields, with field lines arranged in a very specific way - such as a magnetic field that is relatively constant in one direction, but which varies in strength in another direction."

The system, described in the journal Applied Physics Letters, uses specially produced filaments of magnetic micro granulate, which is held together by a polymer binding material. During the printing process, the material is heated and applied point-by-point using a nozzle. The result is a three-dimensional object composed of roughly 90 per cent magnetic material and 10 per cent plastic.