ECNG 1007

Electrical Engineering Technology

Magnetic Circuits

Mr. Andrew Balgobin

 Content
• Terms
• Electromagnetism
• Magnetic field in a coil
• Magnetic units
• Magnetizing BH curve

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 Terms
• Magnetic field
- ‘force’ that attracts magnetic materials
- made up of lines of forces that loop from north to
south pole in air

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 Terms
• Magnetic flux ()
- is the group of magnetic field lines that flow
outward from the north pole of a magnet
- unit of measure is Weber (Wb)

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 Terms
• Magnetic flux density (B)
- is the flux per unit area of a section perpendicular
to the direction of the flux
- unit of measure is Wb/m2

B=
A

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 Terms
• Permeability ()
- a measure of the ability of a material to support
the formation of a magnetic field within itself
- materials with high permeability can be
magnetized easily

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 Terms
• Permeability ()
- the measure of permeability for different materials
relative to air or vacuum is called relative
permeability r
Material Permeability Relative Classification
H/m Permeability
Vacuum (free space) 1.25663706x10-6 1
Air 1.25663753x10-6 1.00000037 Paramagnetic
Water 1.256627x10-6 0.9999912 Diamagnetic
Copper 1.256629x10-6 0.9999906 Diamagnetic
Cobalt 3.14x10-4 250 Ferromagnetic
Nickle 7.54x10-4 600 Ferromagnetic
Iron 6.3x10-3 5000 Ferromagnetic

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 Electromagnetism
• 1819 Danish scientist by the name of Oersted
discovered a relationship between magnetism and
electric current
• he found that an electric current flowing through a
conductor produced a concentric magnetic field
around the conductor
• the higher the current the further the circular lines
of forces would extend
• the principle is known as Ampere’s Law
∑B∆L = µoI
The magnetic field in space around an electric current is
proportional to the electric current which serves as its source
• the right hand rule gives the direction
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 Electromagnetism

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 Magnetic field in a coil
l I

B0

- the strength of the magnetic field in a coil of wire

depends on how much current flows in the turns of
the coil
- the more turns in the coil the more concentrated
are the lines of force.

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 Magnetic units
• Magnetomotive force (ℱ)
- the “driving force” that causes a magnetic field
- the product of the current in the coil, I and number
of turns, N is known as the mmf or magnetomotive
force
F = NI

- unit is Ampere-turns (At)

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 Magnetic units
• Magnetic field intensity (H)
- a ratio of the MMF needed to create a certain flux
density (B) within a particular material per unit
length of that material
- depends on the length of the coil

NI
H=
l

- unit is Ampere-turns (At/m)

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 BH Magnetizing curve

• the BH curve is used to show how magnetic

flux density results from increasing the
amount of field intensity
• the curve usually has a knee point, which
indicates saturation beyond this point
• all magnetic materials have a BH curve
• air, being non-magnetic has a very low BH
profile

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 BH Magnetizing curve

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 Magnetic Saturation
• As more flux gets crammed into the same cross-
sectional area of a ferromagnetic material, fewer atoms
are available within that material to align their magnetic
moments with additional force,
• Therefore, it takes more and more force (H) to create
more flux density (B).
• The permeability of a material changes with the amount
of magnetic flux forced through it

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 Magnetic Field in a coil
l I l I
B0  0 nI
B0  0 nI B0 B

B0  0 nI
B  0 r nI
0 = permeability of free space H/m As seen before
this linear
B B B
 and r   so that    0  r relationship is
H B0  0 H not always true

H is the magnetising field (A/m) , r is the relative permeability

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 Hysteresis Loop
• Shows the relationship between the induced magnetic flux
density (B) and the magnetizing force (H) for an AC
electromagnet
• 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.
• Coercive Force - The amount of reverse magnetic force which
must be applied to a magnetic material to make the magnetic
flux return to zero.

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 Hysteresis Loop

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 Terms
• Magnetic flux linkage ()
- is a measure of the magnetic flux cutting or
linking a coil
- unit of measure is Weber (Wb)

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 Summary

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 Magnetic Field in a coil

What is an electromagnet?
When current flows through a solenoid…

Fixed magnetic field – produced by Changing magnetic field – produced

a permanent magnet or a DC by an AC electromagnet
electromagnet

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 Induced EMF
Faraday’s Law - when the magnetic flux linking a coil changes,
an electromotive force is induced in the coil proportional to the
rate of change of the flux linkage.

For an electromagnet

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 Induced EMF
• Self induction – the EMF induced across a coil due
to a magnetic field produced by the current in that
same coil i.e. E1.
• Mutual Induction - the EMF induced across a coil
due to a magnetic field produced by the current in
another coil i.e. E2.

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