Magnetostriction: revealing the unknown

Giant magnetostrictive materials began to be developed during the 1970s. One material in particular was developed by the Naval Ordnance Lab for use in sonar applications. TERFENOL-D, named for its primary constituents of terbium, iron and dysprosium and place of invention, generates usable strains of 1 mil per inch of material in an applied magnetic field, TERFENOL-D actuators provide 220 N to 880 N of force. Oil well logging shear wave generation using TERFENOL-D sources is accomplished with 1 A of current, providing 3,000 N of force. TERFENOL-D exhibits inverse magnetostriction, or the Villari effect, making it able to provide on demand nondestructive evaluation and inspection of structures, commonly referred to as magnetotagging.