ABSTRACT
The most widely used soft magnetic materials are electrical steels, which are produced in grain-oriented and nonoriented forms, soft ferrites and amorphous magnetic metals. This chapter considers both ac and dc applications of soft magnetic materials. Each requires somewhat different material properties, although in general high permeability and low coercivity are needed in all cases. The desirable properties here are, as in most soft magnetic materials applications, high permeability and high saturation magnetization with low coercivity and low power loss. The hysteresis loss increases as the maximum magnetic field reached during the cycle increases. One of the most important parameters of a magnetic material for ac applications is its electrical loss. Among the most important dc uses that soft magnetic materials find are in electromagnets and relays. Amorphous magnetic fibers are similar in many respects to amorphous magnetic ribbons.
