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K&JMagneticsDemagnetizationCurves

Demagnetization(BH)CurvesforNeodymiumMagnets
Whatisademagnetizationcurve?
Ademagnetizationcurvedescribesthemagneticqualitiesofamagnetmorecompletelythanasinglenumber
likePullForceorSurfaceField.Itprovidesinformationaboutthestrengthofthemagnet,howharditisto
demagnetize,andhowamagnet'sshape(oruseinamagneticcircuit)affectsmatters.
Clickthebuttonatrightforafurtherexplanationofdemagnetizationcurves.

Wheredoesthiscurvedatacomefrom?
ABHCurvedescribesthemagneticpropertiesofthemagneticmaterial.Letsexamineonestepbystep.
Consideraneodymiummagnetsittinginsidea
magnetizer.Themagnetizerisessentiallyacoilof
wirewrappedaroundthemagnet,throughwhichwe
willapplyaverystrongcurrenttocreateamagnetic
field.
Inthegraphatright,thehorizontalaxisshowsthe
strengthoftheAppliedmagneticfield(H)theone
wegetbyrunningcurrentthroughthewire.The
verticalaxisshowstheInducedfield(B),whichthe
permanentmagnetcreatesbyitself.
Themagnetwewillstartwithhasjustbeenmanufactured,butnotyetmagnetized.Themagneticfieldit
createsiszero(B).Thereisnocurrentrunningthroughthewire,sotheappliedfield(H)isalsozero.Lets
representthispointwithadotatthezerolocationonthegraph,point#1.
Now,letsbrieflyrunaterrificallystrongcurrent
throughthewire,placingthemagnetinauniform
magneticfield.Keepincreasingthecurrent,andthe
appliedfieldincreases.Ifwemeasurethemagnetic
field,wealsoseeaninducedmagneticfield,made
fromthemagnet.
Atpoint#2,theincreasesleveloff.Atpoint#2,we
stillhaveacurrentrunningthroughthewire
producinganAppliedfield,plusanInducedfieldfrom
themagnet.
Now,letsturnthecurrentoff.TheAppliedfield(H)
dropstozero,butthereremainsamagneticfield
producedbythemagnet,shownaspoint#3.This
pointisalsocalledBr,Brmax,theResidualInduction
ortheResidualFluxDensity.
InourGlossary,wedefineBras,themagnetic
inductionremaininginasaturatedmagneticmaterial
afterthemagnetizingfieldhasbeenremoved.
That'satpoint#3.

Ifweapplyacurrentintheoppositedirection,themagneticfieldcreatedbythecurrentinthecoilofwire
opposesthefieldfromthemagnetitisintheoppositedirection.
Byapplyingprogressivelymorecurrentinthisdirection,wecanfindtheshapeofthenormalcurveinthe
secondquadrant(theupperlefthandquarter)ofthe
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K&JMagneticsDemagnetizationCurves

secondquadrant(theupperlefthandquarter)ofthe
BHCurvegraph.WheretheInducedfieldreaches
zero,atpoint#4,iscalledtheCoerciveforce,Hc.
Thisisthemagnet'sCoercivity:themeasureofthe
magnetsresistancetodemagnetizationbyan
externalmagneticfield.
Thefartherleftonthegraphthispointislocated,the
strongerthemagneticfieldyouneedtodemagnetize
themagnet.Notonlyareneodymiummagnets
strong,buttheyhavethehighestcoercivityvaluesof
allpermanentmagnettypes.
Therestofthegraphfollowsasymmetricform.The
wholeshapeofthisgraphisthehysteresiscurve,and
defineshowaparticularmagnetmaterialbehaves.It
isapropertyofthemagnetmaterial.
Whenconsideringtheperformanceofanalready
magnetizedmagnetinanapplication,weonlyneed
tolookatthe2ndquadrant(theupperleftquarterof
thegraph)toseehowitwillbehave.

Theshapeofthecurveshowshowthemagnetworksinactualapplications.Theactualoperatingpointonthe
graphdependsontheshapeofthemagnetandhowitisusedinamagneticcircuit(itsPermeance
Coefficient).Forsomeexamplesofhowtousethisinformationandtofindtheactualoperatingpointonthis
curve,seeourarticleonTemperatureandNeodymiumMagnets.

Partsofademagnetizationcurve
Nowlet'sfocusinonthatsecondquadrantofthe
hysteresiscurves,zoominginonjusttheupper
leftsection.Let'sdefineafewoftheinteresting
featuresofthesecurves.
NormalCurve:Thiscurvedescribesthe
magnet'sperformance.Usethecurveforthe
desiredoperatingtemperature.It'sthecurve
mostreferredtofordesignpurposes.
TheKnee:ThepartoftheNormalCurvewhereit
bendsdown,becomingaverticalline.
IntrinsicCurve:Theintrinsiccurvedescribesthe
propertiesofthemagnetifithadnoairgap
betweenthepoles.Don'tworryaboutthiscurve
fornow.
LoadLine:Alinefromtheorigin,withaslopeequaltothePermeanceCoefficientofthemagnetincircuit.
It'salsocalledtheOperatingLine.DrawthislinefromzerotothePermeanceCoefficientofyourmagnet
shownaroundtheedgesofthegraph.
Operatingpoint:TheintersectionoftheLoadLineandtheNormalCurvedescribesthesingleoperating
pointofamagnet.

HowdoaxesofthesegraphsrelatetoperformanceIcanfeelormeasure?
Thereareseveralinterestingmeasuresofamagnetsstrength.Aglanceattheshapeofademagnetization
curvetellsusaboutthefieldstrength,coercivityandpullforceweexpectfromamagnetmadewiththis
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K&JMagneticsDemagnetizationCurves

material.
FieldStrength:Looselyspeaking,wherethe
curvehitstheverticalaxisofthisgraphtellsus
aboutthemaximumfieldstrengthwecanexpect
fromit.Youcan'tfindSurfaceFielddirectly,
though.
Coercivity:Thecoerciveforcerequiredto
demagnetizeamagnet.Thebiggerthisnumber
is,theharderitistodemagnetize.
PullForce:Drawthelargestboxyoucanwhere
onecornerintersectstheorigin,andtheopposite
cornersitsonthenormalline.Theareaofthis
boxistheMaximumEnergyProduct,orBxH.
Thisnumberisdirectlyrelatedtopullforce.It's
alsohowneodymiummagnetgradesarenamed
anN52magnethasaBxHof52MGOe.

Whousesthisstuff?

NormalBHcurvesforseveralmagnet
types

IfyoujustwantsomeMagneticThumbtackstosticktothefridge,youdon'tneedtoworryaboutthese
curves.Justuselistedpullforcenumberstocomparethestrengthofvariousmagnets.
Whenshouldyoubeconcernedwiththesecurves?Whileneodymiummagnetsarehardtodemagnetize,itcan
bedone.Themostcommoncauseofdemagnetizationishightemperatures.Ourindeptharticle
aboutTemperatureandNeodymiumMagnetsusesBHCurvesextensivelytoanswerquestionsabouthowa
magnetmightperformatvarioustemperatures.
Ifyou'reanengineerwhodesignselectricmotorsusingmagnets,youprobablyusethesecurvesextensively.
Amagnetinamotorcanbesubjectedtobothhighertemperaturesandexternallyappliedmagneticfields.
Thesecurvesareusedtopredictamagnet'sperformance.
HIDE

Grade:

N42

GraphSize:
Small

Medium

Large

Drawaloadlineandoperatingpointonthegraph.*

Needtoextractdatapointsfromthecurvesabove?

SHOW

HIDE

Findanumberofdatapointsbelowfromthesecurvesinacommadelimitedformat.Theymaybeusefulfor
furtherstudy,especiallyformodelingofmagneticmaterialsinsimulationsoftware.
Thisdataisexperimentallymeasuredandnotpartofanyofficialstandard.Usewithcaution.

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K&JMagneticsDemagnetizationCurves

K&JMagneticsDemagnetizationCurvesforGradeN42NeodymiumMagnets
Temperature:20C
H(kOe),B(kGauss)
14.69,0.00
14.46,11.42
14.36,11.79
14.21,12.04
13.92,12.19
13.50,12.29
0.00,13.09
10.70,2.00
11.12,1.53
11.44,1.12
11.71,0.70
12.00,0.20
12.10,0.00

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