Effects of grain size, hardness, and stress on the magnetic hysteresis loops of ferromagnetic steels

Effects of grain size, hardness, and stress on the magnetic hysteresis loops of AISI 410 stainless steel and SAE 4340 steel specimens were investigated experimentally. It was observed that both hardness and stress significantly influenced the hysteresis loops, while the grain size had a minimal effect. For each material, the mechanically harder specimen was more difficult to magnetize. Upon application of uniaxial stress, the magnetic induction increased under tension and decreased under compression, with the sides of the hysteresis loops becoming inclined more toward the vertical axis under tension and the horizontal axis under compression. For each material, the effects of stress on the hysteresis loops were greater for the mechanically softer specimen and exhibited an inverse relationship to the hardness. The effects of stress were not dependent on grain size.