Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028

Magnetostriction, Barkhausen noise and magnetization processes in

E110 grade non-oriented electrical steels
F. Bohn
a,
, A. Gu ndel
a,b
, F.J.G. Landgraf
c
, A.M. Severino
a
, R.L. Sommer
d
a
Departamento de Fsica, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97105-900, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil
b
Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Campus UNIPAMPA/Bage, 96412-420 Bage, RS, Brazil
c
Departamento de Engenharia Metalurgica e de Materiais, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 2463, 05508-900, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
d
Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fsicas, Rua Xavier Sigaud 150, Urca, 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Received 24 April 2006; received in revised form 23 March 2007
Available online 19 April 2007
Abstract
Magnetostriction and Barkhausen noise are investigated in non-oriented electrical steels, with composition FeSi
3.2%
, corresponding to
the E110 grade produced by ACESITA (Brazil), as a function of both, the magnetic induction level and the angle between the applied
magnetic eld and the rolling direction. The aim of this study is to understand the magnetization and hysteresis loss processes for this
steel, identifying the magnetization mechanism taking place when magnetic eld is applied in directions not aligned with the rolling
direction, mainly at high magnetic induction levels (above 0.8 T). It is shown that the Barkhausen noise is always present at these high
induction levels which can be associated to domain wall motion and to the nucleation and annihilation of 1801 and 901 domains as well as
to their evolution with the applied eld. Thus, it is shown that the origin of the high induction loss in these samples is the motion of
domain walls, irrespective to the angle with respect to the rolling direction.
r 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PACS: 75.60.Ej; 75.80.+q; 75.60.Ch
Keywords: Magnetostriction; Barkhausen noise; Non-oriented electrical steels; Magnetization processes
1. Introduction
Non-oriented electrical steels (NO) are the soft magnetic
materials most commonly used in applications that
demand isotropy of magnetic properties along the plane
of the sheet, such as rotating electrical machines and
transformers in home appliances. In these applications,
there are some parts of the magnetic circuit where
the magnetic ux is oriented at a given angle with respect
to the rolling direction (RD) of the sheet. As these
materials are extensively used, they are responsible for a
great part of the energy loss in an electric power system.
For this reason, the study and the control of the magnetic
parameters of these steels become a very important
economical issue [1].
In general, NO steels present a texture component which
results in an effective anisotropy in the material. In
particular, the ACESITA E110 grade steel is known to
exhibit a strong (1 1 0) [0 0 1] texture component, which
makes interesting to study the hysteresis loss per cycle and
the magnetization processes as a function of the relative
angle between the direction of the applied magnetic eld or
magnetization and to the rolling direction. In particular,
previous results [1,2] show that the best properties were
obtained at 01 with respect to the rolling direction, with
total losses around 2.8 W/kg at 1.5 T and 60 Hz, while the
worst hysteresis loss per cycle was observed for angles
between 451 and 601, with total loss per cycle of about
3.3 W/kg [1]. Besides, it was suggested [3] that the hysteresis
loss per cycle in these materials could be separated in two
components: the low induction loss and high induction
loss. It is supposed that there are different energy
dissipation mechanisms acting along these different regions
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E-mail address: felipebohn@gmail.com (F. Bohn).
of the induction curve. The rst component is associated to
the magnetization processes at magnetic induction levels
such that B(H)oB(H such as m m
max
), where m
max
is the
maximum value of the total permeability m B(H)/H and
B(H) is the magnetic induction of the sample at a given
value of the applied external magnetic eld H [4]. The low
induction loss is usually associated to the motion of 901
and 1801 domain walls (DWs) [4]. On the other hand, the
high induction loss is associated to the magnetization
processes at magnetic induction levels in the range B 4
B(m
max
). As there is not much information about the energy
dissipation mechanisms at this magnetic induction levels,
this part of the total hysteresis loss is usually associated to
the magnetization rotation process [4]. However, as it is
known that at least a large fraction of the magnetization
rotation is a reversible and non dissipative process,
therefore it could not account for the 50% of the total
hysteresis loss per cycle at high magnetic induction levels,
as observed in Ref. [3].
The split of the total hysteresis loss per cycle in
components related to the magnetic induction levels was
adopted based in classical books, such as the Ref. [4], that
indicate that the maximum permeability denes the
magnetic induction value in the magnetization curve that
divides this curve in regions associated to different
magnetization mechanisms: motion of DWs, below the
knee, and magnetization rotation, above the knee of the
magnetization curve.
The same kind of book describes Barkhausen noise as an
effect appearing nearby the coercive elds. These views are
naive, as already shown in Refs. [5,6], where it can be seen
that in many steels, within a wide range of texture levels,
the nucleation of an intermediate or subsidiary domain
structure takes place at a magnetic induction level, well
above H
c
. This domain structure, in general composed by
spike or transverse domains evolves through motion 901
and 1801 DWs as the eld is further increased. At high
enough eld levels, depending on the magnetic circuit, the
magnetization nally evolves through the rotation process.
As the eld is decreased, starting from the saturated state,
the magnetization process takes place through magnetiza-
tion rotation, followed by the nucleation of the subsidiary
structure, its evolution and annihilation towards the
regular domain structure present at low magnetic induction
levels. Barkhausen noise can then be observed at low
magnetic induction levels, due the DW motion taking place
as the main domain structure evolves with the changes of
the external eld, and also at high magnetic induction
levels, as the subsidiary domain structure evolves.
On the other hand, these books, in the case of
magnetostriction, indicate a non zero value only when
the magnetic structure is nucleated and evolves through the
motion of 901 DWs and magnetization rotation, under the
varying external eld [7-9].
Therefore, this manuscript aims to study the magnetiza-
tion mechanisms in ACESITA E110 grade NO electrical
steels by means of Barkhausen noise and magnetostriction
measurements in order to provide a further insight in the
magnetization processes of these materials and, eventually,
to help NO steel producers to decrease the magnetic, or
hysteresis, loss per cycle by making appropriate changes in
the fabrication process. Another important point that it is
addressed in this manuscript is the question raised by the
scheme of loss separation proposed in the Ref. [3]. If there
is BN at high magnetic induction and this can be associated
to some specic features in the magnetostriction curves,
then the high induction loss can be connected to motion of
DWs, nucleation and annihilation of magnetic domains.
2. Experimental
Barkhausen noise (BN) consists in time series of voltage
pulses detected by a sensing coil wound around a
ferromagnetic material when the material is submitted to
a varying magnetic eld [5,6,10]. The pulses are associated
with sudden changes owed to domain walls, pinning and
deppining of domain walls, as well nucleation, growth and
annihilation of magnetic domains [5,6,10-12].
On the other hand, magnetostriction corresponds to the
dimensional variation l(B) Dl(B)/l of a sample as a
function of the applied magnetic eld or, in other words,
under different magnetic induction levels. Details of the
l(B) curve can be associated with peculiar changes in the
domain structure [7-9]. Motion of 1801 DWs does not
produce any dimensional magnetostrictive change. On the
other side, nucleation and annihilation of domains, motion
of 901 DWs and magnetization rotation always produce
dimensional changes [7-9,13-17]. The measured l(B) is
based on the relation for a single domain in a cubic crystal:
Dl
l

3
2

l
100
a
2
1
b
2
1
a
2
2
b
2
2
a
2
3
b
2
3

1
3

3l
111
a
1
a
2
b
1
b
2
a
1
a
3
b
1
b
3
a
2
a
3
b
2
b
3
1
where the l
100
is the saturation magnetostriction in the
[1 0 0] direction and l
111
is the saturation magnetostriction
in the [1 1 1] direction when magnetized in the same
directions and the a
i
(i 1, 2, 3) and b
i
are the direction
cosines of the magnetization within the domain and the
direction cosines of the measurement direction of the strain
with respect to the cube axis, respectively [8]. In the case of
the material studied in this work, the effective measured
l(B) corresponds to an average of the contributions of
many domains of different grains present in the sample.
Barkhausen noise and magnetostriction investigations
were performed in NO electrical steel FeSi
3.2%
E110 grade
samples produced by ACESITA (Brazil). Texture measure-
ments performed by ACESITA established that this steel
shows a strong (1 1 0) [0 0 1] texture component in the RD.
The samples were cut by photocorrosion with the principal
axis oriented with angles 01, 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701,
801 and 901 with respect to the RD, dened during the
fabrication process, as shown in Fig. 1. Barkhausen noise
and magnetostriction were measured in sets of samples
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F. Bohn et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028 21
with dimensions 30 1 0.5 mm
3
and 30 3 0.5 mm
3
,
respectively.
The inductive Barkhausen noise measurements were
performed in an open magnetic circuit. Fig. 2 shows the
block diagram of the Barkhausen noise experimental
system. In this case, the sample was inserted in a long
solenoid with compensation for the borders in order to
ensure a homogeneous magnetic eld applied. The samples
were cycled in their hysteresis loops by a 50 mHz
homogeneous triangular waveform and maximum ampli-
tude 40 kA/m magnetic eld. The magnetic eld was
applied along the principal axis of the sample. The
electrical current furnished to the solenoid was provided
by a low noise power amplier based on the integrated
circuit Burr-Brown OPA541 with a low pass lter,
controlled by a waveform generator Stanford Research
Systems Model DS345. The waveform generator and the
low noise amplier were fed by packs of 24 V batteries in
order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. BN was detected
by a small sensing coil with 400 turns, length 5 mm, made
with a 44 AWG wire, wound around the central part of
sample. Another pickup coil with the same number of turns
and the same cross section, but wound in the opposite
direction, was adapted to the system in order to
compensate the induced ux in air. The signal was
amplied and ltered by a low noise preamplier model
Stanford Research Systems SR560 and digitized by a
Tektronix TDS320 oscilloscope connected to a computer
by an IEEE-488 GPIB interface. The acquisition and
control of the measurements were performed through
software based on the Agilent Vee.
In order to quantify the Barkhausen noise activity along
the hysteresis curve, the root mean square value (V
rms
) of
the time series as a function of the magnetic induction was
calculated for all samples. The V
rms
is dened by the
expression:
V
rms

1
N
X
N
i1
V
i

2
" #
(2)
where V is the voltage value and N is the number points per
acquisition. The results of the V
rms
of BN can be related to
the motion of DWs, magnetization rotation, domain
nucleation, growth and annihilation [5,6,1012,18].
It is important to keep in mind that the BN measure-
ments were performed along the half hysteresis cycle, from
41 kA/m to +41 kA/m, and not only near the coercive
eld. Fig. 3(a) shows a time series of Barkhausen noise as
measured for the sample 01. A developed routine makes
the smoothing and discounts the base line. Fig. 3(b) shows
the BN signal obtained after discounting the base line. The
V
rms
was obtained from the BN signal shown in Fig. 3(b).
For each sample, 50 time series were acquired along the
half hysteresis loop and the effective V
rms
of the BN is a
simple arithmetic mean of the V
rms
of the 50 acquisitions.
Longitudinal and transverse magnetostriction l(B)
curves were measured using strain gauges model 062BG
produced by Excel Sensores, with resistance of 350 O and
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Fig. 1. Direction of measurement and cut of the sample with respect to the
rolling direction. The angle y denes each sample: 01, 101, 201, 301, 401,
501, 601, 701, 801 and 901.
Fig. 2. Block diagram of the Barkhausen noise experimental setup. Left side: the waveform generator, low noise amplier and the low pass lter furnish
the electrical current to the solenoid. Center: Solenoid, sample and sensing coils. Right side: preamplier, low-pass lter, oscilloscope and computer
acquire the voltage pulses.
F. Bohn et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028 22
gauge factor equals to 2.1. The strain gauge was xed on
the sample with an Epoxi KBR-610, produced by the same
company, and put in a furnace during 2 h at temperature of
150 1C for cure. It must be cited that before xing the strain
gauges, the surface of the samples was polished with
sandpaper.
Two congurations of strain gauges, longitudinal and
transverse, were measured. The block diagram of the
magnetostriction experimental system is shown in Fig. 4.
The voltage signal, proportional to the change of resistance
of the strain gauge and strain, was measured using a
Wheatstone bridge connected to an amplier lock-in
Stanford Research Systems model SR830. The same lock-
in controls a current source, which provides 712 A to an
electromagnet GMW model 5403, responsible for the
generation of the applied magnetic eld with maximum
amplitude 160 kA/m, measured by a Hall sensor. In all
measurements, the magnetic eld was applied along the
principal axis of the sample.
The magnetic induction B vs. H and magnetization m
o
M
vs. H measurements were also performed. The magnetic
induction curves, not shown here, were acquired using a
uxmeter, while the magnetization curves were obtained
with the VSM. As small differences of the demagnetizing
eld can produce large errors in the evaluation of the
internal elds in soft magnetic materials, the results of
magnetostriction and Barkhausen noise are plotted as a
function of the magnetic induction [6-8,13-17]. This
procedure will be followed in this article.
3. Results and discussion
Fig. 5 shows the m
o
M vs. H and m
o
M vs. H
i
curves, where
H
i
HNM is the effective eld and H is the external
magnetic eld. Through the analysis of these curves, it can
be seen for all samples that the saturation magnetization is
approximately 1.8 T. The saturation induction is approxi-
mately 1.99 T. Furthermore, the remanent magnetization is
0.9 T and the coercive eld is approximately 30 A/m. It can
be noticed that these values do not change considerably
from sample to sample. This fact becomes signicant once
the studied steel present a texture component and,
consequently, variations of these values were expected.
Zaykova et al. [19] has reported, for highly textured steels,
that the coercive eld and the remanent magnetization
change signicantly as a function of the angle between the
main axis of the sample and RD. However, for these non-
oriented electrical steels, the texture component is not
strong enough to induce visible changes on the
magnetization curves, although the differences do exist.
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Fig. 3. (a) Time series of Barkhausen noise as measured in the sample 01
(b) Barkhausen noise signal obtained after discounting the base line
obtained in the smoothing.
Fig. 4. Block diagram of the magnetostriction experimental setup. Bottom: the lock-in and the current source provide the electrical current to the
electromagnet. Top: the Hall sensor and the voltmeter measure the magnetic eld value. Center: the strain gauge and the Wheatstone bridge measure the
voltage signal proportional to the magnetostriction.
F. Bohn et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028 23
Consequently, the magnetization curves cannot reveal
differences in the magnetization process for the different
samples. For this reason, BN and magnetostriction were
measured with the intention of observe different magneti-
zation mechanisms.
Fig. 6 shows the V
rms
of the BN as a function of the
magnetic induction for all samples. The Barkhausen noise
was acquired from the negative to the positive saturation
induction, so these curves correspond to half hysteresis
cycle. It was observed that measurements in the other half
cycle, not shown here, presented absolutely symmetrical
behavior. The Barkhausen noise is present in almost all
parts of the hysteresis loop including the high magnetic
induction values above 0.8 T.
The rst noticeable characteristic of the V
rms
curves
behavior is the presence of two strong peaks at magnetic
induction levels around 1.5 and 1.5 T, respectively. The
observed peaks correspond to a ngerprint of topological
instabilities in the domain structure of the material.
Starting from the negative saturation induction, B
S
(B
S
1.99 T), the rst peak can be associated to the
nucleation and growth of new domains [5,6,10-12,18],
followed by the nucleation and growth of the main domain
structure. This structure is kept for all eld values up to the
eld where the second peak appears. This peak is
connected to annihilation of the main domain structure
and the nucleation of the subsidiary domain structure that
evolves until its annihilation by the external eld. It is
important to keep in mind that the peaks can be associated
to the motion of 1801 and 901 DWs, as well to
magnetization rotation, all connected to nucleation,
growth and annihilation of magnetic domains. Bertotti
considers that these nucleation and annihilation processes
are the main mechanisms responsible by the energy
dissipation above the knee of the magnetization loop [5,10].
It is noticeable that for all angles, the rst peak is higher
than the second one. A possible reason is that, for
decreasing elds, there is a decrease in the micromagnetic
order, while, for increasing elds, the eld itself increases
the micromagnetic order. However, the true reason for this
difference of peak amplitudes still remains unclear.
The magnetic induction value for both peaks is the same
for all samples. The rst peak shows small differences,
while the second peak becomes a plateau at y4 701. At
these angles, the annihilation occurs in small proportions
because the magnetic domains oriented along the crystal-
lographic axis [1 0 0] and [0 1 0] are favorable to the
magnetic eld.
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Fig. 5. Magnetization as a function of the external magnetic eld (solid
lines) and of the effective magnetic eld (dot lines) for the samples 01, 101,
201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801 and 901.
Fig. 6. The V
rms
value as a function of the magnetic induction for the
samples 01, 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801 and 901.
F. Bohn et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028 24
On the other hand, at low magnetic induction levels, the
magnetization process proceeds mainly through motion of
DWs. The V
rms
is smaller than the value of the peaks and is
independent of the magnetic induction value. This experi-
mental feature is completely different from the case of
grain oriented (GO) electrical steels, as observed in the
Ref. [6].
At high magnetic induction levels, above 1.8 T, the V
rms
is zero. This means that in this magnetic induction level,
the sample is almost saturated and the slight variations on
the magnetization take place mainly by magnetization
rotation, which does not generate BN.
Fig. 7 shows the longitudinal l(B) curves measured
under the half hysteresis cycle. The magnetostriction was
acquired from the negative to the positive saturation
induction. Measurements on the other half cycle are
similar. For convenience, the reference length value to
zero l was taken at the negative saturation induction [8],
once at this induction value, the magnetic domain structure
is known.
The rst observed characteristic of the behavior is the
similar shape of the magnetostriction curves for all
samples. The changes occur at the same magnetic induction
values. However, the amplitude of the variations is
different from sample to sample. This fact is associated
with different volume fractions of domains oriented along
the crystallographic axis for samples cut in different angles
y with respect to RD. So, the behavior of the domain
structure is strongly dependent on the angle y.
Two peaks can be observed in l(B) at magnetic
induction levels around 1.8 and 1.8 T. These peaks
indicate that, at these magnetic induction levels, the
magnetization vectors are oriented along the easy axis
which, in the case of the present samples are the [1 0 0],
[0 1 0] and [0 0 1] axis [8,9]. Starting from the negative
saturation, below 1.8 T, before reaching the rst max-
imum, an increase in l(B) associated to magnetization
rotation can be observed. The same process is observed for
B 4 1.8 T, just after l(B) reaches the second maximum.
For 1.8 ToBo 1.5 T, l(B) decreases signicantly
and it can be related to an intense motion of 901 DWs. At
this magnetic induction level, the motion of DWs is a
consequence of the nucleation and growth of new magnetic
domains. For 1.5 ToBo0 T, l(B) does not change
signicantly. So, the magnetization process proceeds
basically through motion of 1801 DWs. For 0 T 4 B 4
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Fig. 7. Longitudinal l(B) curves as a function of the magnetic induction
for the samples 01, 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801 and 901. The
reference length value to zero l was taken at the negative saturation
induction.
Fig. 8. Transverse l(B) curves as a function of the magnetic induction for
the same angles of Fig. 7.
F. Bohn et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028 25
1.8 T, l(B) increases until reach the second maximum and
this feature can be associated to motion of 901 DWs [7,9].
Fig. 8 shows the transverse l(B) curves. It can be seen
that the changes on the value happen at the same magnetic
induction levels as in longitudinal l(B) measurements.
However the longitudinal and transverse changes in the
sample dimensions are opposite.
By combining the obtained results of the Barkhausen
noise and magnetostriction measurements, the mechanisms
active along the magnetization curve can be elucidated and
further associated to the losses at the respective magnetic
induction levels. In order to discuss the results, it is
important to keep in mind that these samples show a
strong (1 1 0) [0 0 1] texture component in the RD. In NO
electrical steels, in contrast with GO electrical steels, the
separation between main and supplementary domains is
not possible because the volume fraction of the supple-
mentary structure is large. Consequently, the domain
structure is very complex [8]. For samples cut at an angle
y, the fractions of the domains and the magnetic behavior
change, depending on y.
Fig. 9 shows the V
rms
, as well longitudinal l(B) and
transverse l(B) curves as a function of the magnetic
induction levels for the 01 sample with the lines at the same
magnetic induction levels in order to associate the changes
of the V
rms
and l(B) values to magnetization mechanisms.
It can be seen that these curves can be separated in the
regions I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII, where each
magnetic induction region is associated to a particular
dominant magnetization process. Making a connection
with the induction B vs. H curve, it is possible separate the
same regions along a half cycle of the curve, as is shown in
Fig. 10. The magnetic eld is changed from the negative to
the positive maximum amplitude, H
m
until H
m
, and,
consequently, from the negative to the positive saturation
induction, B
S
until B
S
. The regions and the associated
magnetization mechanisms are:
Region (I): Starting from the negative saturation, B
S
,
until the magnetic induction equals 1.8 T, the magnetiza-
tion process takes place initially by magnetization rotation
[7,9,17] that can be observed through the increase of the
longitudinal l(B) value, region I of Fig. 9(b). As this
mechanism does not generate Barkhausen noise, the V
rms
is
zero, region I of Fig. 9(a). So, it is reasonable that the
sample goes through magnetization rotation from the
saturation to a magnetic state where there are regions with
magnetization vectors parallel with axes [1 0 0], [0 1 0] and
[0 0 1] of the crystals. At approximately 1.8 T, the
maximum longitudinal of the l(B) value, Fig. 9(b),
corresponds to the magnetic state where the magnetization
is oriented along these easy directions.
Region (II): Between approximately 1.8 T until 1.5 T,
the longitudinal l(B) value decreases signicantly, region II
of Fig. 9(b), in a feature that can be associated to motion of
901 DWs [7,9,17]. At these induction levels, approximately
1.5 T, the motion of DWs is a consequence of the
nucleation and growth of new domains, a feature mapped
by the rst peak in V
rms
curve, region II of Fig. 9(a).
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Fig. 10. The induction curve, from B
S
until B
S
, separated in the same 8
magnetic induction ranges.
Fig. 9. (a) V
rms
, (b) longitudinal and (c) transverse l(B) curves as a
function of the magnetic induction separated in induction ranges
according to the respective magnetization mechanisms.
F. Bohn et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028 26
Region (III): From the magnetic induction approxi-
mately equals to 1.5 T until 0.7 T, as l(B) does not
change signicantly while the V
rms
decreases, region III of
Fig. 9(b) and (a), respectively. In this range, the magnetiza-
tion process takes place mainly by motion of 1801 DWs
and the nucleation of new domains occurs in smaller
proportion.
Region (IV): For 0.7 T until 0 T, the l(B) and V
rms
do
not change signicantly, region IV of Fig. 9(b) and (a),
respectively. In this way, at this magnetic induction level,
the magnetization process proceeds mainly by motion of
1801 DWs.
Region (V): For the magnetic induction 0 T until 0.7 T,
there is a rearrangement of the domain structure through
the motion of 1801 and 901 DWs because, at this magnetic
induction range, the V
rms
does not change signicantly and
the longitudinal l(B) begins to increase, as observed in
Fig. 9(a) and (b).
Region (VI): For the magnetic induction 0.7 T until
1.5 T, the evolution of the domain structure proceeds
through the motion of 1801 and 901 DWs as the ngerprint
of the increase of the longitudinal l(B), region VI of
Fig. 10(b), and the V
rms
, (a). At approximately 1.5 T, the
V
rms
reaches the second peak. At this magnetic induction
level, this motion of DWs can be related to the annihilation
of magnetic domains [5,6,10-12,18].
Region (VII): Above the magnetic induction 1.5 T, as
the domains are annihilated, the V
rms
decreases until zero,
region VII of Fig. 9(a). Motion of 901 DWs occurs in a
small proportion until the magnetic induction approxi-
mately equals to 1.8 T, where the longitudinal l(B) reaches
the second peak and the domains have magnetization
vectors closer to the axes [1 0 0], [0 1 0] and [0 0 1] of the
crystals.
Region (VIII): At higher magnetic induction levels,
above 1.8 T, the V
rms
is zero, region VIII of Fig. 9(a), the
longitudinal l(B) decreases, Fig. 9(b) and the few changes
of the magnetization occur due to the magnetization
rotation.
Therefore from the analysis of Barkhausen noise and
magnetostriction curves, it can be observed that the
peculiarities of the domain structure evolution occur at
typical magnetic induction values and, as a consequence,
this description of the magnetization mechanisms is valid
for the samples of all angles.
It can be seen that the magnetostriction curves have
similar forms but different amplitudes. This feature reects
the fact that the magnetization mechanisms depend on the
angle y. So, magnetic properties of the non-oriented
electrical steels cut in different angles with respect to RD
have a behavior depending on the texture.
Due the existence of this angular behavior, in the
literature two ranges of angles are, in general, considered
[6,9]. For 01oyo551, the [0 0 1] easy axis is favored.
Starting at the saturation induction, the magnetization
process is initially due to domain nucleation and the
subsequent motion of 901 DWs. The contraction of the
material possibly is connected to the nucleation of
transverse domains, perpendicular to the plane of the sheet
[20,21]. At lower magnetic induction levels, the structure
evolves by motion of 1801 DWs until the reversion of the
eld, after what the nucleation of magnetic domains occurs
and the motion of 901 DWs is again present. For
551oyo901, the [1 0 0] and [0 1 0] axis are favored and
the l increases. There are small differences from sample to
sample depending on y. As in GO steels, the nucleation,
annihilation and motion of DWs in NO electrical steels can
be related to signicant changes that occur in the
supplementary domain in order to close the magnetic ux
in the sample [20,21]. In this way, it can be observed that
the anisotropy of the magnetic properties reects the
evolution of the domain structure and the transition of the
domains in [0 0 1] easy axis in the plane to [0 1 0] and [0 0 1]
easy axis perpendicular to the plane through nucleation,
growth, annihilation and motion of 901 and 1801 DWs [8].
4. Conclusion
Barkhausen noise and magnetostriction measurements
were performed in samples of NO electrical steel produced
by ACESITA.
Barkhausen noise was observed at low and high
magnetic induction regions, dropping to almost zero at
1.8 T. For this reason, the measurements indicate that the
motion of DWs occurs at low and high magnetic induction
levels. Furthermore, at high magnetic induction levels, the
motion of DWs is related to the nucleation, growth and
annihilation of domains, mapped through the existence of
the rst and the second intense peak of V
rms
, respectively
[5,6,10-12,18].
On the other hand, magnetostriction shows that the
motion of 901 DWs and magnetization rotation occur at
high magnetic induction region, observed through the
changes of l(B) curves [7-9,13-17]. Furthermore, it seems
reasonable to associate the motion of DWs to the process
of nucleation, growth and annihilation of magnetic
domains or, in other words, to the evaluation of the
magnetic domain structure at high induction levels.
In conclusion, our experiments of BN and magnetostric-
tion in non-oriented electrical steels reveal that the
magnetization process at low magnetic induction levels
proceeds mainly by the motion of 901 and 1801 DWs.
Besides, the motion of DWs is present at high induction
levels. However, in this case, the motion of DWs is
associated to the main responsible magnetization processes
at this induction range: the nucleation, growth and
annihilation of magnetic domains [5,6,18]. Only, at higher
induction levels, it is observed the magnetization rotation.
Through the BN and magnetostriction measurements, it
was shown that it is possible to infer a particular dominant
magnetization process to each range of magnetic induction.
Therefore, it can be concluded that a reasonable part of the
magnetic losses at high magnetic induction levels is
associated to the motion of DWs and also to irreversible
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F. Bohn et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 317 (2007) 2028 27
magnetization rotation, as well as to nucleation and growth
of new magnetic domains, in the descendant branch, and
annihilation of domain structures, in the ascendant branch.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to ACESITA for supplying the
samples. This work was partially supported by the
Brazilian agencies CNPq, CAPES and FAPERGS.
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