Magnetic hysteresis loop

Hysteresis refers to systems which have memory; that is, the

effects of the current input to the system are not felt at the same
instant. Such a system may exhibit path dependence, or "rate-
independent memory”Hysteresis phenomena occur in magnetic
materials, ferromagnetic materials and ferroelectric materials , as
well as in the elastic, electric, and magnetic behavior of materials, in
which a lag occurs between the application and the removal of a
force or field and its subsequent effect. Electric hysteresis occurs
when applying a varying electric field, and elastic hysteresis occurs
in response to a varying force. The term "hysteresis" is sometimes
used in other fields, such as economics or biology, where it
describes a memory, or lagging effect.

The magnetisation behaviour of the ferromagnetic materials is

described by the B-H magnetisation curve (hysteresis loop) as shown
in figure 4.6.

The loop is generated by measuring the magnetic flux B of aferromagnetic

material while the magnetising force H is changed.A ferromagnetic material that
has never been previously magnetized or has been thoroughly demagnetised
will follow the dashed line as H is increased. As the line demonstrates, the
greater the amount of current applied (H+), the stronger the magnetic field in the
component (B+). At point “a” almost all of the magnetic domains are aligned and
an additional increase in the magnetising force will produce very little increase in
magnetic flux. The material has reached the point of magnetic saturation. When
H is reduced down to zero, the curve will move from point "a" to point “b”. At this
point, it can be seen that some magnetic flux remains in the material even
though the magnetising force is zero. This is referred to as the point of retentivity
on the graph and indicates the remanence or level of residual magnetism in the
material. (Some of the magnetic domains remain aligned but some have lost
there alignment.) As the magnetising force is reversed, the curve moves to point
“c”, where the flux has been reduced to zero. This is called the point of coercivity
on the curve. (The reversed magnetizing force has flipped enough of the
domains so that the net flux within the material is zero.) The force required to
remove the residual magnetism from the material, is called the coercive force or
coercivity of the material.

As the magnetising force is increased in the negative direction, the material will
again become magnetically saturated but in the opposite direction (point “d”).
Reducing H to zero brings the curve to point “e”. It will have a level of residual
magnetism equal to that achieved in the other direction. Increasing H back in the
positive direction will return B to zero. Notice that the curve did not return to the
origin of the graph because some force is required to remove the residual
magnetism. The curve will take a different path from point “f” back to the
saturation point where it completes s the loop. The complete close loop abcdefa
is called as a hysteresis loop. Hard magnetic materials have wider hysteresis
loops as compared to that of soft magnetic materials as
shown in figure 4.7.

Core Losses
Core losses occur in magnetic cores of ferromagnetic materials under
alternating magnetic field excitations. The diagram on the right hand side plots
the alternating core losses of M-36, 0.356 mm steel sheet against the excitation
frequency. In this section, we will discuss the mechanisms and prediction of
alternating core losses.
As the external magnetic field varies at a very low rate periodically, as
mentioned earlier, due to the effects of magnetic domain wall motion the B-H
relationship is a hysteresis loop. The area enclosed by the loop is a power loss
known as the hysteresis loss, and can be calculated by

For magnetic materials commonly used in the construction of electric machines

an approximate relation is

where Ch is a constant determined by the nature of the ferromagnetic material, f

the frequency of excitation, and Bp the peak value of the flux density.

Example:
A B-H loop for a type of electric steel sheet is shown in the diagram
below. Determine approximately the hysteresis loss per cycle in a
torus of 300 mm mean diameter and a square cross section of 50*50 mm.
Solution:
The are of each square in the diagram represent

If a square that is
more than half within the loop is regarded as totally
enclosed, and one that is more than half outside is disregarded, then
the area of the loop is
Hysteresis loss

When a magnetic material is taken through a cycle of magnetization, energy is

dissipated in the material in the form of heat. This is known as the hysteresis
loss. Transformers and most electric motors operate on alternating
current. In such devices the flux in the iron changes continuously both in value
and direction. The magnetic domains are therefore oriented first in one direction,
then the other, at a rate that depends upon the frequency. Thus, if the flux has a
frequency of 50 Hz, the domains describe a complete cycle every 1/50 of a
second, passing successively through peak flux densities +Bm and -Bm as the
peak magnetic field intensity alternates between +Hm and -Hm. If we plot the
flux density B as a function of H, we obtain a closed curve called hysteresis loop
(Fig.1.18). The residual induction Br and coercive force Hc have the same
significance as before.
 Figure 1.18 Hysteresis loop. If B is expressed in tesla and H inamperes per
meter, the area of the loop is the energy dissipated percycle, in joules per
kilogram.
In describing a hysteresis loop, the flux moves successively from +Bm,
+Br 0, -Bm, -Br, 0, and +Bm, corresponding respectively to points a, b, c, d, e, f,
and a, of Fig.1.18. The magnetic material absorbs energy during each cycle and
this energy is dissipated as heat. We can prove that the amount of heat released
per cycle (expressed in J/m3) is equal to the area (in T-A/m) of the hysteresis
loop. To reduce hysteresis losses, we select magnetic materials that have a
narrow hysteresis loop, such as the grain-oriented silicon steel used in the cores
of alternating current transformers. So the net energy losses/cycle/m3= (hystrisi
loop area) Jule

Scale factors of B and H should be taken into considration while

calculating the actual loop area. For example if the scale are 1
cm=x AT/m for H and 1cm=y Wb/m2 for B Then,
Wh = xy* (area of BH loop) Joule / m3 / cycle

It may be shown that the energy loss per unit volume for each cycle of
magnetization is equal to the area of the hysteresis loop. The area of the loop
will depend on the nature of the material and the value of Bmax (Fig.1.18), and
an approximate empirical relationship discovered by Steinmetz is:

In this expression Wh is the loss per unit volume for each cycle of magnetization;
the index n has a value of about 1.6 to 1.8 for many materials; and the coefficient
hλ is a property of the material, with typical values of 500 for 4 percent silicon
steel and 3000 for cast iron.

When the material is subjected to an alternating magnetic field of

constant amplitude there will be a constant energy loss per cycle,
and the power absorbed is therefore proportional to the frequency.
Assuming the Steinmetz law, we have the following expression for
the hysteresis loss per unit volume
Hysteresis loss
Figure PHY shows the effect within ferromagnetic materials known
as hysteresis.

We start with an unmagnetized sample at the origin (P1) where both

field strength and flux density are zero. The field strength is
increased in the positive direction and the flux begins to grow along
the dotted path until we reach P2. This is called the initial
magnetization curve.

If the field strength is now relaxed then some curious behavior

occurs. Instead of retracing the initial magnetization curve the flux
falls more slowly. In fact, even when the applied field is returned to
zero there will still be a remaining (remnant or remanent) flux
density at P3. It is this phenomenon which makes permanent
magnets possible.

To force the flux to go back to zero we have to reverse the applied

field (P4). The field strength here is called the coercivity. We can
then continue reversing the field to get to P5, and so on round this
type of magnetization curve called (by J. A. Ewing) a hysteresis loop.

What is the significance of this from the point of power losses? It is

that we have had to expend energy in order to set up the remnant
flux. To show this more clearly we'll look at separate figures below.
The area (shown shaded) between the B-H curve and the B axis
represents the work done (per unit volume of material).
W = 0∫BH dB J m-3

You can see that the energy required to 'pump up' the core by
moving from P1 to P2 is more than that which it returns when going
from P2 to P3. This is evocatively termed inelastic behavior. You
could look at this another way by thinking about the 'back emf'
which opposed the initial increase in coil current. The emf generated
is always proportional to the change in flux; but the flux changes
less on the 'way down' than it does going up.

We can go a stage further and deduce that the total power lost over
one complete cycle is proportional to the area within the hysteresis
loop. Because this effect is related to an area, hysteresis loss is
roughly proportional to the square of the working flux density. In
fact, the non-linearities will, for transformer iron, reduce this to
about B1.6. The particular value for a given material is called the
Steinmetz exponent, n. Unfortunately, it is very rare to see a data
sheet which states n directly. For an iron core device it is sometimes
assumed to be 1.6. For ferrite grade 3C8 it is 2.5. Data sheets
sometimes have graphs of loss versus flux density on a log scale.
These can be used to estimate n.

Because a hysteresis loss is incurred each time the core cycles,

from positive to negative values of B, the loss rate (watts) is directly
proportional to the frequency of operation, f (Hz). We can combine
these proportionalities in a single formula for the hysteresis loss:

Ph = Kh×f×Bn watts m-3

Where Kh also depends on the particular core material. Significantly,

hysteresis loss in a transformer is essentially independent of load
current; it depends just on flux and hence voltage. Consequently the
efficiency of a transformer drops towards zero with the load current.

You can build a simple circuit to display hysteresis. By the way, this
tells us why it really isn't advisable to subject a transformer to a
voltage (and hence flux) overload - it's going to get hot before you
go very far :-(
Hard and soft magnetic materials

The hysteresis of a material strongly affects its suitability for a

particular application.

The left hand curve shows a 'soft' magnetic material such as iron
alloyed with silicon. Its area is small so it's ideal for a low loss
transformer core. The addition of 3 % of silicon to iron reduces the
hysteresis loss at 1 tesla from about 250 to 163 J m-3. The material
on the right hand curve is 'hard' magnetic. Its large area is
commonly seen in materials such as Alnico (an
iron/cobalt/nickel/aluminium alloy) used for permanent magnets.

A word of warning about the terms 'hard' and 'soft': many writers
use it to denote only that the value of coercive force is high or low
respectively. Others use them to say that the shape of the loop is
'wide' or 'thin'. That is ambiguous. Does it just refer to Hc or to the
ratio of Hc to Br? Other writers say that hard or soft means the area
of the loop is large or small. Yet others (e.g. Duffin) use hard or soft
to denote the value of the remnant field! Groan :-(
In practise, high Hc often goes together with high Br and everyone is
happy. If you want a winner then go for straight coercivity. Hard
means Hc above 10 kAm-1. Soft means Hc below 1 kAm-1.
Magnetic hysteresis
Hysteresis is well known in ferromagnetic materials. When an
external magnetic field is applied to a ferromagnet, the atomic
dipoles align themselves with the external field. Even when the
external field is removed, part of the alignment will be retained: the
material has become magnetized.A family of B-H loops for grain-
oriented electrical steel (BR denotes remanence and HC is the
coercivity).The relationship between magnetic field strength (H) and
magnetic flux density (B) is not linear in such materials. If the
relationship between the two is plotted for increasing levels of field
strength, it will follow a curve up to a point where further increases
in magnetic field strength will result in no further change in flux
density. This condition is called magnetic saturation.

If the magnetic field is now reduced linearly, the plotted relationship

will follow a different curve back towards zero field strength at
which point it will be offset from the original curve by an amount
called the remanent flux density or remanence.

If this relationship is plotted for all strengths of applied magnetic

field the result is a sort of S- shaped loop. The 'thickness' of the
middle bit of the S describes the amount of hysteresis, related to
the coercivity of the material.

Its practical effects might be, for example, to cause a relay to be

slow to release due to the remaining magnetic field continuing to
attract the armature when the applied electric current to the
operating coil is removed.
This curve for a particular material influences the design of a
magnetic circuit,

This is also a very important effect in

magnetic tape and other magnetic storage
media like hard disks. In these materials it
would seem obvious to have one polarity
represent a bit, say north for 1 and south for
0. However, to change the storage from one
to the other, the hysteresis effect requires
the knowledge of what was already there,
because the needed field will be different in
each case. In order to avoid this problem,
recording systems first overdrive the entire
system into a known state using a process known as bias. Analog
magnetic recording also uses this technique. Different materials
require different biasing, which is why there is a selector switch for
this on the front of most cassette recorders.

In order to minimize this effect and the energy losses associated

with it, ferromagnetic substances with low coercivity and low
hysteresis loss are used, like permalloy.

In many applications small hysteresis loops are driven around points

in the B-H plane. Loops near the origin have a higher µ. The smaller
loops the more they have a soft magnetic (lengthy) shape. As a
special case, a damped AC field demagnetizes any material.

Magnetic field hysteresis loss causes heating. This effect is used in

induction cooking, where an alternating magnetic field causes a
ferrite container to heat directly rather than being heated by an
external heat-source.