ME 215 Engineering Materials I

PROJECT ASSIGNMENT: MAGNETIC MATERIALS

DATE:

1.0

Introduction to magnegnetic materials (Z.Abidin)

1.1 - History of The Magnetic Materials
1.2 Main Properties of The Magnets

2.0

Classifi cation of Magnetic Materials

2.1 - Diamagnetic Materials
2.2 - Paramagnetic Materials
2.3 - Ferromagnetic Materials
2.4 - Antiferromagnetic Materials
2.5 - Ferrimagnetic Materials

3.0

Properties of Magnetic Materials (Uur)

3.1 - Saturation Magnetisation

3.2 - Magnetic Anisotropy

4.0

Magnetic Domains

5.0

Magnetic Hysteresis

6.0

Observation of Magnetic Domains (Harun)

7.0

Hard Magnetic Materials

7.1 - Alnicos
7.2 - Hard Ferrites
7.3 - SmCo Type
7.4 - NdFeB Type
7.5 - Applications of Hard Magnetic Materials

8.0

Soft Magnetic Materials(Furkan)

8.1 - Iron-Silicon Alloys

8.2 - Amorphous & Nano-Crystalline Alloys
8.3 - Nickel-Iron Alloys
8.4 - Soft Ferrites
8.5 - AC Applications
8.6 - DC Applications
8.7 - Cast steel: Soft Magnetic Alloys

9.0

Magnetic Recording(Volkan)

9.1 - Magnetic Tapes

9.2 - Magnetic Disks
9.3 - Writing & Reading Data

10.0

Other Magnetic Materials

10.1 - Magnetostriction Materials

10.2 - Magnetoresistance

8.0

Soft Magnetic Materials

Introdution________________
Soft magnetic materials are those materials that are easily magnetised and
demagnetised. They typically have intrinsic coercivity less than 1000 Am -1. They
are used primarily to enhance and/or channel the flux produced by an electric
current. The main parameter, often used as a figure of merit for soft magnetic
materials, is the relative permeability (mr, where mr = B/moH, which is a measure
of how readily the material responds to the applied magnetic field. The other
main parameters of interest are the coercivity, the saturation magnetisation and
the electrical conductivity.
The types of applications for soft magnetic materials fall into two main
categories: AC and DC. In DC applications the material is magnetised in order to
perform an operation and then demagnetised at the conclusion of the operation,
e.g. an electromagnet on a crane at a scrap yard will be switched on to attract
the scrap steel and then switched off to drop the steel. In AC applications the
material will be continuously cycled from being magnetised in one direction to
the other, throughout the period of operation, e.g. a power supply transformer. A
high permeability will be desirable for each type of application but the
significance of the other properties varies.
For DC applications the main consideration for material selection is most likely to
be the permeability. This would be the case, for example, in shielding applications
where the flux must be channelled through the material. Where the material is
used to generate a magnetic field or to create a force then the saturation
magnetisation may also be significant.
For AC applications the important consideration is how much energy is lost in the
system as the material is cycled around its hysteresis loop. The energy loss can
originate from three different sources: 1. hysteresis loss, which is related to the
area contained within the hysteresis loop; 2. eddy current loss, which is related to
the generation of electric currents in the magnetic material and the associated
resistive losses and 3. anomalous loss, which is related to the movement of
domain walls within the material. Hysteresis losses can be reduced by the
reduction of the intrinsic coercivity, with a consequent reduction in the area
contained within the hysteresis loop. Eddy current losses can be reduced by
decreasing the electrical conductivity of the material and by laminating the
material, which has an influence on overall conductivity and is important because
of skin effects at higher frequency. Finally, the anomalous losses can be reduced
by having a completely homogeneous material, within which there will be no
hindrance to the motion of domain walls.
Iron-Silicon Alloys
Amorphous & Nano-Crystalline Alloys
Nickel-Iron Alloys
Soft Ferrites
AC Applications
DC Applications

8.1 - Iron-Silicon Alloys

These alloys are used for transformer cores and are known as electrical steels. In
the power industry electrical voltage is almost always AC and at low frequency,
50-60Hz. At these frequencies eddy currents are generated in the transformer
core. Alloying the Fe with Si has a large marked effect on the electric resistivity of
the material, with an increase of a factor of 4 for 3wt%Si. Silicon also has the
benefit of reducing the magnetostriction (i.e. length change on magnetisation)
and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. In addition, the material is used in the
form of laminations, typically 0.3 to 0.7mm thick. The addition of too much silicon
makes the material extremely brittle and difficult to produce, giving a practical
limitation of 4wt% to the amount of Si that can be added. Recently, a technique
has been developed to produce laminations with >6wt% Si, by a SiCl 4 chemical
vapour deposition treatment to enrich the laminations with Si after forming the
laminations. Typically most electrical steels will contain between 3 and 4 wt% Si.
For transformer applications the flux lies predominantly in the length of the
laminations and therefore it is desirable to enhance the permeability in this
direction. This is achieved by various hot and cold rolling stages to produce
textured sheets, known as grain-oriented silicon-steel, with the [001] direction in
the length of the lamination. The <001> type crystal directions are the easy
directions of magnetisation and hence the permeability is greater. Figure 11,
shows the anisotropy of Fe and illustrates the two types of texture that can be
achieved, which are known as cube-on-edge and cube texture. Note that the
cube texture has two <001> type directions in the plane of the sheet and
provides an advantage if E-shaped laminations are to be cut from the sheet.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 11: (a) The magnetocrystalline anisotropy of Fe, (b) cube-on-edge texture
and (c) cube texture in grain oriented silicon steel.
8.2 - Amorphous Nano-Crystalline Alloys
These materials can be produced in the form of a tape by melt-spinning. The
alloys consist of iron, nickel and/or cobalt with one or more of the following
elements: boron, carbon, phosphorous and silicon. They have extremely low
coercivity, an order of magnitude less than standard Fe-Si, and consequently
lower hysteresis losses. However, they have relatively low magnetisation and are
not suitable for high current applications. They do find a market in low current
applications and specialised small devices where they can compete with Ni-Fe.
Instead of casting the alloy onto a rotating wheel to produce tapes it is also
possible to squirt a stream of molten alloy into a bath of water or oil to produce
amorphous wires of typically 50mm thick. These wires show a very square
hysteresis loop with large changes in magnetisation at low field, making them
ideal for sensing and switching.
Recently there has been much interest in nano-crystalline material, which is
produced by annealing the amorphous material. These alloys can be single phase
but are usually comprised of nano-sized grains, in the range 10-50nm, in an
amorphous matrix. They have relatively high resistivity, low anisotropy and good
mechanical strength.
8.3 - Nickel-iron alloys
These alloys, known as permalloy, are extremely versatile and are used over a
wide range of compositions, from 30 to 80wt%Ni. Over this composition range
the properties vary and the optimum composition must be selected for a
particular application. The high Ni content alloys have high permeability; around
50wt%Ni have high saturation magnetisation and low Ni content have a high
electrical resistance.
There are special grades of Ni-Fe alloys that have zero magnetostriction and zero
magnetic anisotropy, such as mumetal which is produced by a careful heat
treatment and minor additions of Cu and Cr. These alloys have extremely high
relative permeability, up to 300000, and intrinsic coercivity as low as 0.4Am -1.
8.4 - Soft Ferrites
At high frequency metallic soft magnetic materials simply cannot be used due to
the eddy current losses. Therefore, soft ferrites, which are ceramic insulators,
become the most desirable material. These materials are ferrimagnetic with a

cubic crystal structure and the general composition MO.Fe 2O3, where M is a
transition metal such as nickel, manganese or zinc.
MnZn ferrite, sold commercially as ferroxcube, can be used at frequencies up to
10MHz, for example in telephone signal transmitters and receivers and in switch
mode power supplies (also referred to as DC-DC converters). For these type of
application the driving force to increase frequency is to allow miniaturisation.
Additionally, part of the family of soft ferrites, are the microwave ferrites, e.g.
yttrium iron garnet. These ferrites are used in the frequency range from 100MHz
to 500GHz, for waveguides for electromagnetic radiation and in microwave
devices such as phase shifters.
8.5 - AC Applications
AC applications relate to electric circuits and primarily in transformers converting
one AC voltage into another. Power transmission is more efficient at high voltage,
but more dangerous and less easily used in the home. Therefore, step-up
transformers are used to increase the voltage for transmission and step-down
transformers are used to reduce the voltage before entering the home.
The smallest type of transformer is a DC-DC converter, also known as a switch
mode power supply. These are often mounted on a chip that can be put onto a
circuit board. They take a DC voltage input, oscillate the voltage to an AC signal,
which then goes through a coil around a toroidal core, a pick-up coil picks up the
signal from the core and rectifies it to the output voltage. The relative number of
turns on the primary (input) and secondary (output) coils determines the
difference in voltage between input and output.
Soft magnetic materials also play an important role in electric motors where they
enhance the field produced by the motor windings. In permanent magnet motors
they are also used to channel the flux produced by the permanent magnets.
8.6 - DC Applications
One of the main DC applications is in the field of magnetic shielding. A high
permeability magnetic material is used to encapsulate the device that requires
shielding. Figure 12 illustrates a simple example of magnetic shield where a
tube/sphere of high permeability material channels the magnetic field away from
the inside of the tube/sphere. The effectiveness of the shield can be expressed in
terms of the shielding factor, S, where S relates to the field outside (Bo) and
inside (Bi) the shield by equation 9.
Equ.9
For a sphere, S can be calculated by equation 10, where mr = relative
permeability, d = thickness of wall and D = diameter.
Equ.10
It is clear from equation 10 that the higher the permeability then the better the
material will be at shielding. It is also apparent that as the shield gets larger then
either the permeability of the material or the wall thickness must increase to
compensate.

Soft magnetic materials are also used for electromagnetic pole-pieces, to

enhance the fields produced by the magnet. Solenoid switches also rely on soft
magnetic materials to activate the switches. Most permanent magnet devices will
use soft magnetic materials to channel flux lines or provide a return path for
magnetic fields, e.g. MRI body scanners have large permanent magnets with a
yoke of soft magnetic material to prevent self demagnetising fields that would
reduce the field in the gap of the scanner.

Figure 12: Magnetic shielding by a tube/sphere of soft magnetic material.

8.7 - Cast steel: Soft Magnetic Alloys

Soft magnetic material includes a wide variety of nickel-iron and nickel-cobalt soft
magnetic alloys and pure iron for high performance components requiring high
initial and maximum permeability coupled with ease of fabrication.
Sophisticated equipment, advanced technology and the expertise developed for
producing aeronautical grade alloys are employed for manufacturing, high
performance soft magnetic material.
Starting with ultra clean raw materials, special processes and techniques are
used for melting and refining this material under controlled atmospheric
conditions in the Air Induction Melting, Vacuum Induction Refining and Vacuum
Induction Melting furnaces. The final product is manufactured through a
combination of forging, hot and cold rolling, wire drawing and heat treatment
depending on the customer`s specifications.

Soft magnetic alloys includes two alloy systems:

1. Softmag Alloys
2. Sofcomag Alloys
8.7.1 - Softmag Alloys
The iron-nickel SOFTMAG alloys exhibit a wide range of magnetic properties in
relation to their nickel content. The high nickel alloys have high initial
permeability but low saturation, whereas the low nickel alloys are lower in initial

permeability but higher in saturation induction. Small amounts of other alloying

elements, particularly molybdenum and copper, are added to these alloys and
special processing techniques such as annealing in hydrogen are employed in
order to develop or accentuate specific characteristics.
Softmag can be broadly classified into six categories:
-

SOFTMAG 30 Series (30%Ni, Fe rest) - low curie point, temperature

compensator alloys. In this type of alloys, by slight compositional variation,
the curie point can be brought down to between +40 and +100C which is
mostly used for temperature compensation in magnetic circuit,
temperature-sensitive switches and relays.

SOFTMAG 36 Series (36%Ni, Fe rest) - low-permeability, high resistivity

alloys. These are two alloys having the same composition but different
magnetic properties due to different processing methods.
36A Series is distinguished by the linearity of its magnetic property and
finds application in weak fields in the form of laminations.
36B Series is characterized by very high electrical resistivity, good
permeability and low electrical loss. This alloy is mostly used in relays and
pulse transformers.

SOFTMAG 48 Series (48%Ni, Fe rest) - medium-permeability, high

saturation alloys. These are alloys-with similar composition but different
magnetic properties.
48A Series is specially heat treated to attain special properties in low
fields, for example, to lower the Rayleigh Region coefficient (g/m). This
alloy is supplied in finishing heat-treated condition only, in the form of
cores and laminations. They are used in telephone equipment and in some
measuring devices.
48B Series shows high initial permeability in low fields. It is used for
making relays, transformers, solenoids, current transformers, safety plugs
for gas applications.
48C Series is a superior version of 48B Series and exhibits very high
permeability and low hysteresis loss. It is available in the form of thin
strips, cores and laminations. This alloy is used for making electrical
components, small sensitive relays, current transformers, differential
detectors, transducers, etc.
48D Series is a square loop version of 48B Series produced by adjusting
the composition and subsequent rolling and annealing process achieving a
high remanence of flux density due to the cube texture. 48D Series alloy is
supplied in the form of strips, cores used in magnetic amplifiers, DC-DC
transformers, memories, switching devices, etc.

SOFTMAG 53 Series (53%Ni, Fe rest) - high-permeability, medium

saturation alloys. 53 Series is a vacuum melted nickel-iron alloy offering a
high induction at saturation in conjunction with high permeabilities. It is
used only in the form of cores in current transformers, differential
detectors, etc.

SOFTMAG 76 Series (76%Ni, Fe rest) - high permeability, low saturation

alloys. 76 is an alloy with saturation induction which is higher than that of
78 Series (-8500 G). This alloy has been specially developed for split
armature coils of telephones.

SOFTMAG 78 Series (78%Ni, Fe rest) - very high permeability, l ow

saturation alloys. This family of alloys shows very high initial and
maximum permeability- at low magnetizing forces, low core losses and
very good magnetic shielding characteristics. There are six grades of alloys
under this series, composed basically of 78% Ni-Fe-Mo and classified
according to their permeability characteristics.
78A Series, 78B Series & 78C Series contain small quantities of copper in
addition to molybdenum as an alloying element. They are supplied in the
form of sheets, strips, cores and laminations.
78D Series & Series 78E are supplied only as tape wound cores in the heattreated condition to gain optimum magnetic properties higher permeability
and reduced losses.
Series 78F is an alloy which exhibits a rectangular hysteresis loop due to
special heat treatment. It is obtained from 78D Series heats and is used in
the form of cores for magnetic amplifiers, DC transformers, memories, etc.

8.7.2 - Sofcomag Alloys

The iron-cobalt SOFCOMAG family of alloys are characterized by moderately high
permeability and very high saturation induction. While iron-nickel Softmag alloys
attain the maximum saturation induction of about 1.5 teslas, the SOFCOMAG
alloys can achieve saturation induction values as high as 2.3 teslas. They are also
marked by their low electrical resistivity and high hysteresis loss.

SOFCOMAG can be broadly classified into two series:

-

SOFCOMAG 25 (25% Co, Fe rest)

SOFCOMAG 49 (49% Co, Fe rest)

OFCOMAG 25 is an alloy which exhibits the highest saturation flux density of all
the magnetic alloys. Its high curie point enables its use in areas where the
magnetic properties have to remain unimpaired even at high temperatures of
about 500C. This alloy is designed for application in electrical equipment
requiring high saturation; induction in high magnetic field as in. electric motor
parts of aircraft for which weight is an important consideration. It is also used for
magnetic poles of electromagnets.
SOFCOMAG 49A is similar to SOFCOMAG 25 in respect of its high saturation flux
density. However, it offers a higher resistivity than SOFCOMAG 25. This yields low
eddy current losses at high induction levels. In addition to electric motors for
aircraft, SOFCOMAG 49A is also used for its high positive magnetostriction in
sonar applications and ultrasonic equipment.

SOFCOMAG 49B is similar to SOFCOMAG 49A but is given special properties due
to different processing methods. Hence the hysteresis cycle of this grade is
rectangular.