Example:

Magnetostrictive Transducer
This is a 2D axi-symmetric model of a magnetostrictive
transducer.

Magnetostrictive transduction is used in sonars,
acoustic devices, active vibration and position control
and fuel injection systems.

The transducer has a steel housing enclosing a drive
coil. A magnetostrictive material is placed in the core
which works as an actuator when a magnetic field is
produced by passing a current through the drive coil.
Introduction
Magnetostrictive Transducer
Steel housing
(for magnetic flux path)
Drive coil (homogenous
current carrying element)
Magnetostrictive rod
(active material)
Sectional view of a cylindrical transducer
2D axial symmetry used to reduce computation time.

Non-linear constitutive relation between magnetostriction and
magnetic field is implemented. The material is assumed to be in
a pre-stressed state that would yield maximum magnetostriction.

Non-linear B-H curve is used to model realistic magnetic
behavior including saturation effect at high magnetic fields.

The drive coil is modeled as a homogenized current carrying
domain. Individual wires are not resolved.

Magnetostatic modeling is performed. A parametric sweep of
current density in the drive coil is used to demonstrate the non-
linear magnetostriction vs. magnetic field.
Model Features
Magnetostriction - Theory
Magnetostrictive materials exhibit free strain () when exposed to
magnetic field (H). This phenomena is known as the Joule effect.

This phenomena has a quantum mechanical origin. The magneto-
mechanical coupling takes place at the atomic level.

From a system level, the material can be assumed to comprise of a
number of tiny ellipsoidal magnets which rotate due to the torque
produced by the externally applied magnetic field.

The rotation of these elemental magnets produce dimensional
change as shown in this animation.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Magnetostriction_by_Zureks.gif
Magnetostriction Effect of magnetic field
The free strain is often
modeled using linear
constitutive relation:
=dH
where d is called the piezo-
magnetic strain coefficient.

In reality, the free strain
(magnetostriction) has a
non-linear dependence on
the applied magnetic field
and the mechanical stress
in the material.
Source:
http://www.etrema-usa.com/documents/Terfenol.pdf
Pre-stress
Magnetostriction vs. Magnetic field at various pre-stresses
AC/DC Module > Statics,
Magnetic > Azimuthal
Induction Currents,
Vector Potential

Calculates the azimuthal
magnetic potential (A

) for
a given azimuthal current
density (J

).

The magnetic problem is
solved to find the spatial
distribution of
magnetization (Mr_emqa,
Mz_emqa).


Physics 1 Electromagnetic
Structural Mechanics
Module > Axial
Symmetry, Stress-Strain
> Static analysis

Magnetostriction
(Lambda_r, Lambda_z)
values are assigned as
initial strains (
ri
,
zi
) in the
magnetostrictive rod.

This creates a one-way
coupling of the structural
problem with the magnetic
problem.

Physics 2 Structural
Geometry
Steel housing
Air domain
(required to view realistic
magnetic flux path)
Drive coil
Magnetostrictive rod
Steel housing
(Subdomain 2)
Dimensions
Air
(Subdomains 1, 4, 6)
Current-carrying coil
(Subdomain 5)
Magnetostrictive rod
(Subdomain 3)
Magnetostrictive rod
- Radius = 3 mm
- Height = 50 mm
Coil
- Radius = 3 mm
- Height = 50 mm
Steel housing
Head and base plates
- Radius = 20 mm
- Height = 5 mm
Side wall
- Thickness = 5 mm
- Height = 50 mm
Air domain
- Radius = 90 mm
- Height = 180 mm

Options > Constants
Magnetostriction (
i
) along direction i depends on the magnetostriction
constant (
s
) and the magnetization direction cosine (
i
).

The direction cosine is the ratio of magnetization along the required direction
(M
i
) and the saturation magnetization (M
s
) of the material.

The negative 1/3 term indicates that the magnetic moments are randomly
oriented in the material in the absence of any magnetic field.

We will not use this 1/3 term because we have assumed that the material is
sufficiently pre-stressed such that all magnetic moments are perpendicular to
the direction of magnetization at the beginning of the magnetization process.
Calculation of magnetostriction

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
.
|

\
|
o =
3
1
M
M
2
3
3
1
2
3
2
s
i
s
2
i s i
Ref: S. Chikazumi, Physics
of Ferromagnetism, 2
nd
ed.,
Clarendon Press.
Options > Expressions > Subdomain Expressions
Note: Constitutive relation is applied only to subdomain 3
which represents the magnetostrictive material.
Make sure the application mode emqa is selected from
the Multiphysics menu.

Subdomains 1, 4, 6 No changes are necessary.

Subdomain 2 - Choose Library Material as Soft iron
(with losses). Choose constitutive relation (HB) as H
= f(|B|)e
B
.

Go to Options > Materials/Coefficients library.
Expand Model(1) and click on Soft Iron (with
losses)(mat1). In the sigma edit field, type 0. Click
Apply and OK.
Subdomain settings - Magnetic
Subdomain settings - Magnetic
Subdomain 3 Assume a non-linear but isotropic
magnetostrictive material. Choose constitutive
relation (HB) as H = f(|B|)e
B
. Type
HBFe(normB_emqa[1/T])[A/m] in the H edit field.

HBFe is a user-defined function to model the non-
linear B-H curve in the magnetostrictive material.

The B-H curve function can be created by the user
using experimental material data. User-defined
functions are created from Options > Functions.
Subdomain settings - Magnetic
Subdomain settings - Magnetic
Non-linear B-H Curve
Interpolation
table
B
H
H = HBFe(B)
Subdomain 5 - Type J0 in the J

e
edit field.

Note that the electrical conductivity in subdomain 5 is
set to zero because in reality the turns of wires in a
drive coil are insulated from each other so that the
current only flows along the circumferential direction ()
and not along the axial (z) and radial (r) directions.
Subdomain settings - Magnetic
Subdomain settings - Magnetic
Boundary settings - Magnetic
Axial Symmetry
(Boundaries 1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
Magnetic Insulation
(Boundaries 2, 11, 26)
All other boundaries
- Continuity
This boundary condition
sets the magnetic vector
potential A

= zero. This is
an approximation for a
boundary at infinity. The
user may also use infinite
elements for a more high
fidelity model. See the
AC/DC Module User's
Guide for information on
infinite elements.
Select the application mode smaxi from the
Multiphysics menu

Deactivate all other Subdomains except Subdomain 3
by clearing the checkmark from the Active in this
domain option.

Subdomain 3 In the Material tab, type 60e9 [Pa] and
0.45 in the Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio edit
fields respectively to simulate the mechanical properties
of typical magnetostrictive material.
Subdomain settings - Structural
Subdomain settings - Structural
Subdomain 3 Add the magnetostriction (Lambda_r and
Lambda_z) using the Initial Stress and Strain tab.
Subdomain settings - Structural
Why initial strain?
| | | | | | | | ( ) | |
i i
C o c c o + =
Generalized Hookes Law
Magnetostriction does not produce stress in the material
unless it is constrained.

Modeling magnetostriction as an initial strain ensures
that the material remains stress-free when the strain in
the body is the same as the magnetostriction.
[] Stress

[C] Stiffness

[] Strain

[
i
] - Initial strain

[
i
] - Initial stress
Boundary settings - Structural
Axial symmetry
Boundary 5
Free Boundaries 8 and 12
Fixed Boundary 6
Magnetostrictive rod
(Subdomain 3)
It is desired to calculate the magnetic
quantities in the magnetostrictive rod
and steel housing with high accuracy.

Go to the Subdomain tab under Mesh
> Free Mesh Parameters. Type 1e-3 in
the Maximum element size edit field
for subdomains 2 and 3.

Go to the Boundary tab under Free
Mesh Parameters. Type 1e-4 in the
Maximum element size edit field for
boundaries 6 and 8.

Click the Remesh button followed by
OK button.
Meshing
Results
Uniform magnetic flux
density inside the
magnetostrictive rod along
the centerline (r = 0).

Flux density tapers off
sharply through the steel
head and base plates.
Magnetic flux concentration through
the magnetostrictive rod and steel
housing depicted by the streamlines.
Results
Uniform axial strain (~ 1.47e-4)
in the magnetostrictive rod due
to magnetostriction.
Zero axial stress in the
magnetostrictive rod due
to free strain.
Uniform axial strain in the
magnetostrictive rod along
the centerline (r = 0)
Creating the non-linear vs. H curve
It is desired to find out the free strain of the
magnetostrictive material or displacement obtained from
the transducer as a function of the input current or input
magnetic field for most applications.

To find this out we need to perform a parametric
analysis.

Assume J0 varies quasi-statically so that there is no
inductive effect and no skin-effect.
Solve > Solver Parameters
Use the settings
shown here and
click OK.

Click the =
button to solve.

It will probably
take a few
minutes.
Plotting the non-linear vs. H curve
Postprocessing > Plot Parameters
> Domain Plot Parameters.

In the General tab, make sure all the
solutions are selected in the
Solutions to use area.

Select the Point tab and choose
point 4.

In the y-axis data area, type
Lambda_z in the Expression edit
field.

In the x-axis data area, select the
Expression radio button and then
click on the Expression button. Type
Hz_emqa.
Non-linear magnetostriction vs.
magnetic field curve along the
axial direction.
Plotting the displacement vs. input current density
Postprocessing > Plot Parameters
> Domain Plot Parameters.

In the General tab, make sure all the
solutions are selected in the
Solutions to use area.

Select the Point tab and choose
point 4.

In the y-axis data area, type w in the
Expression edit field.

In the x-axis data area, select the
Expression radio button and then
click on the Expression button. Type
J0.
Non-linear axial displacement vs.
input current density.
References
1. C. Mudivarthi, S. Datta, J. Atulasimha and A. B. Flatau, A bidirectionally
coupled magnetoelastic model and its validation using a Galfenol
unimorph sensor, Smart Materials and Structures, 17 035005 (8pp),
2008.
http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0964-1726/17/3/035005/

2. F. Graham, Development and Validation of a Bidirectionally Coupled
Magnetoelastic FEM Model for Current Driven Magnetostrictive Devices,
M.S. Thesis, Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College
Park, USA, 2009.
http://www.lib.umd.edu/drum/handle/1903/9354