An Efficient Vector Hysteresis Model for Unidirectional Magneto-Elastic Interactions

Utilization of magneto-elastic materials has been recently on the rise especially in applications involving linear actuators, sensors, and energy harvesting. There is no doubt, though, that precise magneto-elastic models capable of correlating the coupled nonlinear and history dependent mechanical and magnetic components are crucial for the design and construction of devices related to the aforementioned applications. In the past, several efforts have been carried out toward the enhancement of accuracy and computational efficiency of relevant magnetostriction models. In this article, a novel approach to the modeling of unidirectional magneto-elastic interactions is presented. This approach capitalizes on the physical fact that an applied mechanical stress along a magnetized rod axial direction results in off-axis domain rotation. The approach employs a superposition of vector magnetic hysteresis models where x- and y-axes inputs are correlated with the applied magnetic field and a mapping of the mechanical stress. The corresponding x- and y-axes outputs represent the magnetic flux density and mechanical strain, simultaneously. To check the validity of the proposed approach, model identification was carried out for a Terfenol rod material. Simulations were performed and compared with experimental measurements involving different field-stress variations. Experimental validation results demonstrate the good qualitative and quantitative agreement of the model output with experimental measurements. Theoretical and computational details of the proposed model, its identification, and comparisons with experimentally measured data are given in this article.