Magnetic cores are ferrous metal pieces wound with wire used in various industrial applications. Five factors determine their effectiveness: shape, air gap, metal properties, temperature, and lamination. Different shapes provide specific magnetic field concentration properties. Hysteresis can be avoided by using soft metals like soft iron and laminated silicon steel.
Magnetic cores are highly permeable pieces of ferrous metal that are usually wound with a coil of wire and used in the manufacture of mechanical or magnetic devices. Due to the high permeability of the metal core, it is able to concentrate magnetic field lines within it, creating a much stronger magnetic field. These components are used in a variety of industrial applications including electrical transformers, electromagnets, motors and induction devices.
When assembled correctly, a magnetic core can create very intense and concentrated magnetic currents. There are five basic factors that determine the effectiveness of a magnetic core. When all five conditions are met, extremely powerful magnetic cores can augment the magnetic fields created by electricity and permanent magnets.
The five main factors in magnetic core design are geometric shape, air gap, properties of core metals, operating temperature, and lamination. The shape and air gap of the magnetic core affect the path of the magnetic field. Metal properties and operating temperature have an effect on how the magnetic field is concentrated and how the core itself reacts to magnetic forces. Core lamination further affects magnetic paths and concentration by eliminating stray currents, which could disturb typical magnetic fields or cause excessive heat buildup.
While a magnetic core could, by definition, be any piece of ferrous metal wrapped in wire, there are a few basic shapes that are predominantly used in industrial applications. These shapes include the straight cylindrical core, I core, C or U core, E core, flat core, toroidal core, ring core, and planar core. Each of these forms provides specific magnetic field concentration properties. These forms of magnetic core can be used to good advantage, sometimes increasing a coil’s magnetic field by more than 1,000 times the coils’ initial magnetic field.
In some cases, the magnetic core is subject to energy losses during operation due to the properties of the metal it is made of. In cases where a magnetic current needs to be commutable, the formation of a permanent magnetic field by the core could prove harmful. For example, an electrical transformer core that becomes permanently magnetized can be rendered unusable for its task. This unwanted magnetism is called hysteresis and can be circumvented by the use of magnetic core metals with a lower hysteresis point. Such metals are known as soft metals and include soft iron and laminated silicon steel.
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