Magnetic Circuits

Md. Osman Ali

Asst. Professor
Dept. of EEE, NSTU

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Magnetic Fields

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 Experiment to Determine Magnetic Fields
o The presence and strength of a magnetic field is
denoted by “magnetic flux lines”.
o The direction of the magnetic field is also
indicated by these lines.
o The closer the lines, the stronger the magnetic
field and vice versa.
o When iron particles are placed over a magnet, the
flux lines can be clearly seen.

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Characteristics of Magnetic Field Lines

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Magnetic Flux Lines Around A Current-Carrying Conductor

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 Ampère's Right-Hand Grip Rule
o An electric current passes through a straight wire.
When the thumb is pointed in the direction of
conventional current (from positive to negative),
the curled fingers will then point in the direction
of the magnetic flux lines around the conductor.
o The direction of the magnetic field
(counterclockwise instead of clockwise when
viewing the tip of the thumb) is a result of this
convention and not an underlying physical
phenomenon.

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Flux Distribution of A Current-Carrying Coil

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 Ampère's Right-Hand Grip Rule for Solenoid

o An electric current passes through a

solenoid, resulting in a magnetic field.
o When wrapping the right hand around the
solenoid with the fingers in the direction
of the conventional current, the thumb
points in the direction of the magnetic
north pole.

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Electromagnet

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Determining the direction of flux for an electromagnet

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 Flux density
o The number of flux lines per unit area is called the flux density.

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 Permeability (µ)
o The permeability of a material, therefore, is a measure of the ease with
which magnetic flux lines can be established in the material.
o It is similar in many respects to conductivity in electric circuits.
o Materials that have permeabilities slightly less than that of free space are
said to be diamagnetic.
o Those with µ slightly greater than that of free space are said to be
paramagnetic.
o Materials with these very high µ are referred to as ferromagnetic.
o Magnetic materials, such as iron, nickel, steel, cobalt, and alloys of these
metals, have µ hundreds and even thousands of times that of free space.

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 Relative Permeability (µr)
o The ratio of the permeability of a material to that of free space is called its
relative permeability.
o In general, for ferromagnetic materials, µr ≥ 100, and for nonmagnetic
materials, µr = 1.

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 Reluctance
o The reluctance, however, is inversely proportional to the permeability, while
the resistance is directly proportional to the resistivity.
o The larger the µ or the smaller the Ρ, the smaller the reluctance and
resistance, respectively.
o Therefore, materials with high permeability, such as the ferromagnetics,
have very small reluctances and will result in an increased measure of flux
through the core.

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 Ohm’s Law for Magnetic Circuits
o For magnetic circuits, the effect desired is the flux.

o The cause is the magnetomotive force (mmf) , which is the external force (or “pressure”)
required to set up the magnetic flux lines within the magnetic material.
o The opposition to the setting up of the flux is the reluctance.

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 Magnetizing Force
o The magnetomotive force per unit length is called the magnetizing force (H).

o The direction of the flux can be determined by placing the fingers of the right hand in the
direction of current around the core and noting the direction of the thumb.
o The magnetizing force is independent of the type of core material—it is determined solely by
the number of turns, the current, and the length of the core.

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B-H Curve and Hysteresis Loss

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 Ferromagnetic Materials
o The ferromagnetic materials are those substances that exhibit strong magnetism in the same
direction of the field when a magnetic field is applied to it.
o Common examples of ferromagnetic substances are Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, etc.

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 Application of Ferromagnetic Materials
o Permanent Magnets: Ferromagnetic materials are used for making permanent magnets
because their magnetization lasts longer.
o Transformer Core: A material used to make the transformer core and choke is subjected to
very rapid cyclical changes and the material must also have strong magnetic induction.
o Magnetic Tapes and Memory Store: The magnetization of a magnet is not only dependent
on the magnetization field but also on the magnetization cycle it has undergone. Thus, the
specimen's magnetization value is a record of the magnetization cycles that it has undergone.
Thus, such a machine will serve as a memory storage unit.

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What is a Hysteresis Loop?

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 Properties of Ferromagnetic Materials

o When a ferromagnetic material is placed in a magnetic field, it rapidly aligns itself in the track
of the field.

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 Properties of Ferromagnetic Materials

o When the current is increased, at first numerous

domains line up with the field.
o On the dipoles of the domains which are not
aligned, a torque is developed.
o When the majority of dipoles line up with the
field, then there is no more increase in M.
o Thus saturation is reached.

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An Example of a Hysteresis Loop

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 Explanation of B-H Curve (1/4)
o Step 1: When supply current I = 0, so no existence of flux density (B) and magnetizing force (H).
The corresponding point is ‘O’ in the graph above.
o Step 2: When current is increased from zero value to a certain value, magnetizing force (H) and
flux density (B) both are set up and increased following the path o – a.

o Step 3: For a certain value of current, flux density (B) becomes maximum (Bmax). The point

indicates the magnetic saturation or maximum flux density of this core material. All elements of
core material get aligned perfectly. Hence Hmax is marked on the H axis. So no change of the value
of B with a further increment of H occurs beyond point ‘a’.

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 Explanation of B-H Curve (2/4)
o Step 4: When the value of current is decreased from its value of magnetic flux saturation, H is
decreased along with decrement of B not following the previous path rather following the
curve a – b.
o Step 5: The point ‘b’ indicates H = 0 for I = 0 with a certain value of B. This lagging of B behind
H is called hysteresis. Point ‘b’ explains that after removing magnetizing force (H), magnetism
property with little value remains in this magnetic material it is known as residual magnetism
(Br). Here o – b is the value of residual flux density due to the retentivity of the material.

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 Explanation of B-H Curve (3/4)
o Step 6: If the direction of the current I is reversed, the direction of H also gets reversed. The
increment of H in the reverse direction following path b – c decreases the value of residual
magnetism (Br) that gets zero at point ‘c’ with a certain negative value of H. This negative

value of H is called coercive force (Hc).

o Step 7: H is increased more in a negative direction further; B gets reverses following path c –
d. At point ‘d’, again magnetic saturation takes place but in opposite direction with respect to
the previous case. At point ‘d’, B and H get maximum values in the reverse direction, i.e. (-Bm

and -Hm).

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 Explanation of B-H Curve (4/4)
o Step 8: If we decrease the value of H in this direction, again B decreases following the path
de. At point ‘e’, H gets zero-valued, but B is with a finite value. The point ‘e’ stands for
residual magnetism (-Br) of the magnetic core material in opposite direction with respect to
the previous case.
o Step 9: If the direction of H is again reversed by reversing the current I, then residual
magnetism or residual flux density (-Br) again decreases and gets zero at point ‘f’ following
the path e – f. Again further increment of H, the value of B increases from zero to its
maximum value or saturation level at the point of the following path f – a.
o The path a – b – c – d – e – f – a forms a hysteresis loop.

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 Hysteresis Loss
 Hysteresis means a lag between
input and output in a system
upon a change in direction.
 Hysteresis is something that
happens with magnetic
materials so that, if a varying
magnetizing signal is applied,
the resulting magnetism that is
created follows the applied
signal, but with a delay.

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 An Example of Hysteresis Loss
 Hysteresis loss in a transformer occurs due to magnetization saturation in the
core of the transformer.
 Magnetic materials in the core will eventually become magnetically saturated
when they are placed in a strong magnetic field, such as the magnetic field
generated by an AC current.
 To prevent distortion, transformers that are used for power electronics
should be chosen so that they do not strongly saturate at the input magnetic
flux value.
 The area of the hysteresis loop shows the energy required to complete a full
cycle of magnetizing and de-magnetizing, and the area of the loop represents
the energy lost during this process.
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 Minimization of Hysteresis Loss
o Hysteresis losses can be reduced by using material that has less area of the
hysteresis loop.
o Silicon steel can be used for designing the core within a transformer because
it has extremely less area of the hysteresis loop.

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 Primary Magnetic Properties of a Material (1/2)
o Retentivity - A measure of the residual flux density corresponding to the saturation induction
of a magnetic material. In other words, it is a material's ability to retain a certain amount of
residual magnetic field when the magnetizing force is removed after achieving saturation.
o Residual Magnetism or Residual Flux - the magnetic flux density that remains in a material
when the magnetizing force is zero. Note that residual magnetism and retentivity are the
same when the material has been magnetized to the saturation point. However, the level of
residual magnetism may be lower than the retentivity value when the magnetizing force did
not reach the saturation level.

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 Primary Magnetic Properties of a Material (2/2)
o Coercive Force - The amount of reverse magnetic field which must be applied to a magnetic
material to make the magnetic flux return to zero. (The value of H at point C on the hysteresis
curve.)
o Permeability, µ - A property of a material that describes the ease with which a magnetic flux
is established in the component.
o Reluctance – It is the opposition that a ferromagnetic material shows to the establishment of
a magnetic field. Reluctance is analogous to the resistance in an electrical circuit.

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 Significance of Hysteresis Loops
o Smaller hysteresis loop area symbolizes less hysteresis loss.

o Hysteresis loop provides the value of retentivity and coercivity of a material. Thus the way to
choose the perfect material to make a permanent magnet, and core of machines becomes
easier.
o From the B-H graph, residual magnetism can be determined, and thus choosing material for
electromagnets is easy.

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 Curie Temperature
o There is a temperature, above which the ferromagnetic material will turn into paramagnetic
material.
o This particular temperature is called Curie temperature.

o That is, when we increase the temperature beyond the Curie temperature, it will cause the
ferromagnetic materials to lose their magnetic property.

o It is represented by TC. The magnetic ordering of the dipoles of the ferromagnetic material is

interrupted by thermal energy.

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