B. T. H. Varcoe

This work follows on from studies carried out by Jiles and Atherton on magnetic hysteresis and on the magnetomechanical effect. The Jiles–Atherton equation, which models the rate of change of magnetization with respect to stress, was solved numerically in the forward and reverse directions for stress up to 90 MPa, suggesting that stressing carbon steel will cause a lasting change in the magnetization of the sample. This was confirmed experimentally by measuring the B-field in proximity to samples of C45 steel while undergoing tensile stress, with the pattern of magnetization suggesting that the magnetic domains reorient themselves in the geomagnetic field when stressing loosens their pinning. A further experiment on two samples confirms this, with the B-field around the samples showing strong changes according to their orientation in the geomagnetic field at the time of the stressing. This work has relevance to the non-destructive testing of steel structures such as pipelines, and the relevance of the experiments to this work is considered, as well as future prospects.