A small-scale magnetic-yielding model for an infinite magnetostrictive plane with a crack-like flaw

The effect of an external magnetic field on the fracture toughness of magnetostrictive materials has been investigated by determining the local stress fields around the tip of a very slender elliptical flaw embedded in an infinite magnetostrictive plane subjected to magnetic loading, based on the assumption of linear magnetization. In this paper, the above-mentioned analytical approach is extended to develop a small-scale magnetic-yielding model. The magnetic saturation zone is constructed and the distributions of magnetic field and magnetization are obtained around the tip of a slender elliptical crack. Based on the complex potential theory, the stress field is obtained in the vicinity of the tip of the slender elliptical crack by implementing the continuity conditions of displacement and resultant force at the interface between the magnetic saturation and magnetoelastic zones. The stress fields near the tip of the slender elliptical crack are obtained for two kinds of soft ferromagnetic materials each with a small induction magnetostrictive modulus. The theoretical results obtained show that the stresses in the neighborhood of a crack-tip are finite even when the elliptical crack reduces to a sharp crack, and are much smaller than the yield stress or the nominal fracture stress of the material. This suggests that, generally, the magnetic field has no obvious effects on the apparent fracture toughness of soft ferromagnetic materials, which is in agreement with the existing experimental results published in the existing literature. In addition, the theoretical analysis illustrates that no crack is magnetically impermeable, and the corresponding boundary conditions are inappropriate for fracture analysis of soft ferromagnetic materials.