Page:EB1911 - Volume 17.djvu/346

MAGNETIC MEASUREMENTS]

Induction and Hysteresis Curves.—Some typical induction curves, copied from a paper by Ewing (Proc. Inst. C.E. vol. cxxvi.), are given in figs. 11, 12 and 13. Fig. 11 shows the relation of B to H in a specimen which has never before been magnetized. The experiment may be made in two different ways: (1) the magnetizing current is increased by a series of sudden steps, each of which produces a ballistic throw, the value of B after any one throw being proportional to the sum of that and all the previous throws; (2) the magnetizing current having been brought to any desired value, is suddenly reversed, and the observed throw taken as measuring twice the actual induction. Fig. 12 shows the nature of the course taken by the curve when the magnetizing current, after having been raised to the value corresponding to the point a, is diminished by steps until it is nothing, and then gradually increased in the reverse direction. The downward course of the curve is, owing to hysteresis, strikingly different from its upward course, and when the magnetizing force has been reduced to zero, there is still remaining an induction of 7500 units. If the operation is again reversed, the upward course will be nearly, but not exactly, of the form shown by the line d e a, fig. 13. After a few repetitions of the reversal, the process becomes strictly cyclic, the upward and downward curves always following with precision the paths indicated in the figure. In order to establish the cyclic condition, it is sufficient to apply alternately the greatest positive and negative forces employed in the test (greatest H = about ±5 C.G.S. units in the case illustrated in the figure), an operation which is performed by simply reversing the direction of the maximum magnetizing current a few times.

The closed figure a c d e a is variously called a hysteresis curve or diagram or loop. The area $$\int$$HdB enclosed by it represents the work done in carrying a cubic centimetre of the iron through the corresponding magnetic cycle; expressed in ergs this work is $1⁄4$$$\int$$HdB. To quote an example given by J. A. Fleming, it requires about 18 foot-pounds of work to make a complete magnetic cycle in a cubic foot of wrought iron, strongly magnetized first one way and then the other, the work so expended taking the form of heat in the mass.

Fig. 14 shows diagrammatically a convenient arrangement described by Ewing (see Proc. Inst. C.E. vol. cxxvi., and Phil. Trans., 1893, p. 987) for carrying out ballistic tests by which either the simple B-H curve (fig. 11) or the hysteresis curve (figs. 12 and 13) can be determined. The sample under test is prepared in the form of a ring A, upon which are wound the induction and the magnetizing coils; the latter should be wound evenly over the whole ring, though for the sake of clearness only part of the winding is indicated in the diagram. The magnetizing current, which is derived from the storage battery B, is regulated by the adjustable resistance R and measured by the galvanometer G. The current passes through the rocking key K, which, when thrown over to the right, places a in contact with c and b with d, and when thrown over to the left, places a in contact with e and b with f. When the switch S is closed, K acts simply as a commutator or current-reverser, but if K is thrown over from right to left while S is opened, not only is the current reversed, but its strength is at the same time diminished by the interposition of the adjustable resistance R2. The induction coil wound upon the ring is connected to the ballistic galvanometer G2 in series with a large permanent resistance R3. In the same circuit is also included the induction coil E, which is used for standardizing the galvanometer; this secondary coil is represented in the diagram by three turns of wire wound over a much longer primary coil. The short-circuit key F is kept closed except when an observation is about to be made; its object is to arrest the swing of the d’Arsonval galvanometer G2. By means of the three-way switch C the battery current may be sent either into the primary of E, for the purpose of calibrating the galvanometer, or into the magnetizing coil of the ring under test. When it is desired to obtain a simple curve of induction, such as that in fig. 11, S is kept permanently closed, and corresponding values of H and B are determined by one of the two methods already described, the strength of the battery-current being varied by means of the adjustable resistance R. When a hysteresis curve is to be obtained, the procedure is as follows: The current is first adjusted by means of R to such a strength as will fit it to produce the greatest + and − values of the magnetizing force which it is intended to apply in the course of the cycle; then it is reversed several times, and when the range of the galvanometer throws has become constant, half the extent of an excursion indicates the induction corresponding to the extreme value of H, and gives the point a in the curve fig. 12. The reversing key K having been put over to the left side, the short-circuit key S is suddenly opened; this inserts the resistance R, which has been suitably adjusted beforehand, and thus reduces the current and therefore the magnetizing force to a known value. The galvanometer throw which results from the change of current measures the amount by which the induction is reduced, and thus a second point on the curve is found. In a similar manner, by giving different values to the resistance R, any desired number of points between a and c in the curve can be determined. To continue the process, the key K is turned over to the right-hand side, and then, while S is open, is turned back, thereby not only reversing the direction of the current, but diminishing its strength by an amount depending upon the previous adjustment of R2. In this way points can be found lying anywhere between c and d of fig. 12, and the determination of the downward limb of the curve is therefore completed. As the return curve, shown in fig. 13, is merely an inverted copy of the other, no separate determination of it is necessary.

In fig. 15 (J. A. Fleming, Magnets and Electric Currents, p. 193) are shown three very different types of hysteresis curves, characteristic of the special qualities of the metals from which they were respectively obtained. The distinguishing feature of the first is the steepness of its outlines; this indicates that the induction increases rapidly in relation to the magnetic force, and hence the metal is well suited for the construction of dynamo magnets. The second has a very small area, showing that the work done in reversing the magnetization is small; the metal is therefore adapted for use in alternating current transformers. On the other hand, the form of the third curve, with its large intercepts on the axes of H and B, denotes that the specimen to which it relates possesses both retentiveness and coercive force in a high degree; such a metal would be chosen for making good permanent magnets.

Several arrangements have been devised for determining hysteresis more easily and expeditiously than is possible by the ballistic method. The best known is J. A. Ewing’s hysteresis-tester, which is specially intended for testing the sheet iron used in transformers. The sample, arranged as a bundle of rectangular strips, is caused to rotate about a central horizontal axis between the poles of an upright C-shaped magnet, which is supported near its middle upon knife-edges in such a manner that it can oscillate about an axis in a line with that about which the specimen rotates; the lower side of the magnet is weighted, to give it some stability. When the specimen rotates, the magnet is deflected from its upright position by an amount which depends upon the work done in a single complete rotation, and therefore upon the hysteresis. The deflection is indicated by a pointer upon a graduated scale, the readings being interpreted by comparison with two standard specimens supplied with the instrument. G. F. Searle and T. G. Bedford have