Bonded permanent magnets produced by big area additive manufacturing

A method for producing a bonded permanent magnet by additive manufacturing, the method comprising:

• (i) incorporating components of a solid precursor material into at least one deposition head of at least one multi-axis robotic arm of a big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) system, the components of the solid precursor material comprising a thermoplastic polymer and particles having a hard magnetic material composition, wherein said thermoplastic polymer has a melting point of at least 175° C.;
• said deposition head performs melting, compounding, and extruding functions;
• and said BAAM system has an unbounded open-air build space;
• and
• (ii) depositing an extrudate of said solid precursor material from said deposition head, said extrudate being at a temperature above the glass transition temperature of said solid precursor material when exiting an orifice of said deposition head, and depositing said extrudate layer-by-layer from said deposition head until an object is formed with said extrudate, and allowing the extrudate to cool after each deposition, to produce said bonded permanent magnet.