Magnetostriction is a property of magnet that causes them to change their shape or dimensions during the process of magnetization. The variation of materials' magnetization due to the applied magnetic field changes the magnetostrictive strain until reaching its saturation value, λ. The effect was first identified in 1842 by James Joule when observing a sample of iron.
Joule observed in this paper that he first reported the measurements in a "conversazione" in Manchester, England, in
Magnetostriction applies to magnetic fields, while electrostriction applies to electric fields.
Magnetostriction causes energy loss due to frictional heating in susceptible ferromagnetic cores, and is also responsible for the low-pitched humming sound that can be heard coming from transformers, where alternating currents produce a changing magnetic field.. Sctritonscience.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-11.
The reciprocal effect, the change of the magnetic susceptibility (response to an applied field) of a material when subjected to a mechanical stress, is called the Villari effect. Two other effects are related to magnetostriction: the Matteucci effect is the creation of a helical anisotropy of the susceptibility of a magnetostrictive material when subjected to a torque and the Wiedemann effect is the twisting of these materials when a helical magnetic field is applied to them.
The Villari reversal is the change in sign of the magnetostriction of iron from positive to negative when exposed to magnetic fields of approximately 40 kA/m.
On magnetization, a magnetic material undergoes changes in volume which are small: of the order 10−6.
Cobalt exhibits the largest room-temperature magnetostriction of a pure element at 60 . Among alloys, the highest known magnetostriction is exhibited by Terfenol-D, (Ter for terbium, Fe for iron, NOL for Naval Ordnance Laboratory, and D for dysprosium). Terfenol-D, , exhibits about 2,000 microstrains in a field of 160 kA/m (2 kOe) at room temperature and is the most commonly used engineering magnetostrictive material. Galfenol, , and Alfer, , are newer alloys that exhibit 200-400 microstrains at lower applied fields (~200 Oe) and have enhanced mechanical properties from the brittle Terfenol-D. Both of these alloys have <100> easy axes for magnetostriction and demonstrate sufficient ductility for sensor and actuator applications.
Another very common magnetostrictive composite is the amorphous alloy with its trade name Metglas 2605SC. Favourable properties of this material are its high saturation-magnetostriction constant, λ, of about 20 and more, coupled with a low magnetic-anisotropy field strength, HA, of less than 1 kA/m (to reach magnetic saturation). Metglas 2605SC also exhibits a very strong ΔE-effect with reductions in the effective Young's modulus up to about 80% in bulk. This helps build energy-efficient magnetic MEMS.
Cobalt ferrite, (CoO·Fe2O3), is also mainly used for its magnetostrictive applications like sensors and actuators, thanks to its high saturation magnetostriction (~200 parts per million). In the absence of rare-earth elements, it is a good substitute for Terfenol-D. Moreover, its magnetostrictive properties can be tuned by inducing a magnetic uniaxial anisotropy. This can be done by magnetic annealing, magnetic field assisted compaction, or reaction under uniaxial pressure. This last solution has the advantage of being ultrafast (20 min), thanks to the use of spark plasma sintering.
In early sonar transducers during World War II, nickel was used as a magnetostrictive material. To alleviate the shortage of nickel, the Japanese navy used an iron-aluminium alloy from the Alperm family.
For a polycrystalline alloy, an established formula for the magnetostriction, λ, from known directional microstrain measurements is:
λs = 1/5(2λ100+3λ111)
During subsequent hot rolling and recrystallization steps, particle strengthening occurs in which the particles introduce a "pinning" force at grain boundaries that hinders normal (stochastic) grain growth in an annealing step assisted by a atmosphere. Thus, single-crystal-like texture (~90% {011} grain coverage) is attainable, reducing the interference with magnetic domain alignment and increasing microstrain attainable for polycrystalline alloys as measured by semiconducting strain gauges. These surface textures can be visualized using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) or related diffraction techniques.
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