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Magnetic Permeability is simply the ability of the material to form an internal magnetic eld
within itself under the in uence of an applied magnetic eld.
But there's an even easier way to think of permeability. If you ask the question, "How easily
does the material become magnetized?", the answer has to do with the permeability of the
material. The easier it is magnetized, the more permeable it is. Keep in mind that "ease of
magnetization" is di erent from "strength of magnetization" because most materials that
become easily magnetized are not strong magnets.
The assumption is that you are trying to magnetize a material that is practical for magnetic
purposes. We could talk about the magnetic permeability of air, or of a vacuum. The
permeability of air or vacuum can be measured. The permeability is very low, since air and
vacuum don't have much mass. However, the permeability of hard magnetic materials is
also low, and there is plenty of mass. So then, what accounts for the di erence? That will
be explained below in the Permeability of Hard Magnetic Materials section.
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Let's try to understand permeability better. When we create a magnetic eld with an
electromagnetic coil, we have a choice to make regarding the core that goes inside the coil.
If the core is made of air- or even a vacuum- there isn't much material there to become
magnetized.
P
Permeability of Soft O
Magnetic Materials
Q
If you make the core out of a soft magnetic material like silicon steel, it is easy to magnetize,
so silicon steels are regarded as very
R permeable. In fact, many electromagnets and
solenoids have cores made of iron or silicon steel, precisely because these materials are so
permeable.
Iron
Low-carbon steel
Silicon steel
Iron-aluminum-silicon alloys
Nickel-iron alloys
Iron-cobalt alloys
Ferrites, and amorphous alloys.
But that's not the whole story. The permeability equation is as follows:
µ = B/H
Where:
µ = permeability
B = Flux Density, measured in Teslas or Gauss
H = Magnetizing Force, measured in Oersteds
So we can see that permeability is the ux density divided by the magnetizing force. This
means that if the Flux Density is high and the Magnetizing Force is low, the Permeability is
low. If the Flux Density is low and the Magnetizing Force is high, then the Permeability is
high.
While we're on the subject, iron and silicon steels also have low Remanence and low
Coercivity, additional factors that make them great core materials. They magnetize easily
(low Coercivity) and then demagnetize easily (Low Remanence) in part because they are
permeable. Also, the silicon addition to silicon steels reduces eddy currents and improves
the long-term stability of the steel so its characteristics remain the same for a long time.
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NdFeB magnets also have a high coercive force (Coercivity) which makes it di cult to
demagnetize them.
It is typical then for low-permeability materials to be used as permanent magnets, and for
high-permeability materials to be used as soft magnetic materials. If we look at Figure 1
(below) we see typical hysteresis curves
P for both hard- and soft magnetic materials.
O
Here is a short list of hard magnetic materials:
Q
R
NdFeB (Neodymium)
SmCo (Samarium Cobalt)
Ferrite
Alnico (Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt Alloy)
B-H Curve of Magnetic Material. As we follow the letters from a through g we generate important magnetic data about the
material that helps us understand the material's magnetic properties.
The shape of the hysteresis loop is governed by a variety of factors that in uence the
material's magnetic characteristics. A magnetic material with a narrow hysteresis loop
generally has higher permeability while a material with a wider hysteresis loop will have
lower permeability.
But a number of additional factors in uence a material's hysteresis loop and identify that
material's magnetic characteristics. For example, materials with a wider hysteresis loop
generally exhibit the following properties:
Relative Permeability of Selected Materials. It's surprising to note that the permeability of an NdFeB
Magnet is similar to air until we consider what is happening with the diples.
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Pure iron (a soft magnetic material) re-orients it's dipoles easily in the presence of a
magnetic eld, but a Neodymium magnet maintains those dipoles in their orientation even
under the in uence of a strong external magnetic eld.
What's even more interesting is that the permeability of a Neodymium magnet is very close
to the permeability of air. So we have
P to ask the question -"How can the permeability of a
dense permanent magnet material be so close to air -where there is so little mass?"
O
Q
The answer to this question comes back to our earlier premise about how materials orient
Rdo not easily re-orient their dipoles in the presence of
their dipoles. Neodymium magnets
an applied magnetic eld. Air -since there is so little mass- does not have many dipoles to
orient.
So we can see that the reason Neodymium magnets have nearly the same Permeability as
air is that while Neodymium magnets have a lot more dipoles than air, they only allow a very
small amount of those dipoles to align to an external magnetic eld. The result is that
Neodymium magnets have virtually the same Permeability as air.
Magnetic Reluctance
Magnetic Reluctance is the opposite of Magnetic Permeability. We can think of it as
magnetic resistance. Materials that are highly permeable will have low reluctance.
Conversely, materials with low permeability will generally have low reluctance.
What is the di erence between the hysteresis loop for a hard magnetic material
and a soft magnetic material?
Why do Neodymium magnets have nearly the same relative permeability as air?
Do you have questions? Do you need assistance on your project? Do you have a custom
application?
Use the form below to send us an RFI/RFQ. Our courteous, professional sta members are
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