IEC 60404-1:2016 is intended to classify commercially available magnetic materials. The term "magnetic materials" denotes substances where the application requires the existence of ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic properties. The classification of magnetic materials is based upon the generally recognized existence of two main groups of products:
- soft magnetic materials (coercivity less than or equal to 1 000 A/m);
- hard magnetic materials (coercivity greater than 1 000 A/m). This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) Removal of all tables and values describing typical properties of the material to be consistent with the aim of the document to be a classification and not a specification.
b) Enlargement of the Ni content for the classes E1 and E3.
c) Enlargement of the Co content for the classes F3.
d) Addition of a new class: U5 bonded rare earth-iron-nitrogen magnets.