Investigation of scaling laws in frequency-dependent minor hysteresis loops for ferromagnetic steels

Scaling laws in dynamical magnetic minor hysteresis loops have been investigated in the magnetizing frequency range of 0.05-300 Hz for various steels including Cr-Mo-V steel subjected to creep, cold rolled steels, and plastically deformed Ni. Although scaling laws in the medium magnetization range found previously fail in the high magnetization frequency regime owing to a significant contribution of eddy currents, a scaling power law of the relation between remanence and remanence work of minor loops, associated with a constant exponent of approximately 1.9, holds true in a very low magnetization regime, irrespective of magnetization frequency and investigated materials. The coefficient of the law is proportionally related to Vickers hardness over the wide frequency range. These observations demonstrate that the scaling analysis of dynamical minor loops enables us to evaluate materials degradation in a short measurement time with low measurement field and high sensitivity to defect density.