Material characterisation

Purpose

In order to reliably model electrotechnical systems, the behaviour of the materials that make them up must be known. To do this, the study of these materials and the development of the models associated with them involves experimentation, in order to identify parameters in particular. The objective of the characterisation of magnetic materials is to obtain precise and reliable information on the electromagnetic constitutive equations, as a function of certain parameters such as the excitation frequency, the temperature or the mechanical stress.

Equipment

The equipment for characterising magnetic materials revolves around two scientific objectives for the study of soft magnetic materials.

• The first objective concerns the electromagnetic characterisation of samples of solid or laminated materials, in order to extract the constitutive equations, iron losses and electrical conductivity, in particular. The equipment is used to characterise Epstein, SST and toric type samples, under different excitation conditions (frequency, PWM, arbitrary waveform, etc.) This equipment is completed by a temperature oven and a mechanical traction bench in order to perform characterisations under thermal or mechanical constraints. 
• The second objective concerns the study of the impact of manufacturing processes on the properties of magnetic materials. Consequently, the data resulting from the classic characterisation are used to analyse the impact of the manufacturing processes but also to identify any variability that may be introduced by the manufacturing of the material or its forming process. Specific characterisation devices are being developed in this context.