Magnetism and Magnetic Materials

Soft Magnetic Materials

Magnetic materials which are simply magnetized and demagnetized are known as soft magnetic materials. The applications of soft magnetic materials fall under two main categories- AC and DC. In DC applications the material is magnetized to execute an operation and then demagnetized at the end of the operation, e.g. an electromagnet on a crane at a scrap yard will be swapped on to attract the scrap steel and then switched off to drop the steel. In AC applications the material will be endlessly cycled from being magnetized in solitary direction to the other, through the period of operation, e.g. a power supply transformer. A high penetrability will be desirable for each form of application, but the importance of the other properties varies. Soft magnets are generally used in signal transferring.