Residual magnetic field variation induced by applied magnetic field and cyclic tensile stress

Magnetic memory testing (MMT) method is a novel non-destructive testing technique due to its unique advantages of stress concentration identification and early damage detection for ferromagnetic materials. However, a thorough understanding of the impact of exciting magnetic source and cyclic stress on the residual magnetic field variation has not been clearly addressed. The surface magnetic memory signal Hp(y) induced by applied magnetic field and cyclic tensile stress was measured throughout the fatigue process. The correlation of Hp(y) and its gradient K changes with loading cycles and applied magnetic field intensity H reported. The results show that applied magnetic field can only change the magnitude of MMT signal instead of changing the Hp(y) curve׳s profile. The Hp(y) value increases with the increase of the H, and the K value is approximately linear to the H. The maximum gradient Kmax indicating the degree of stress concentration increases with the increase of either stress cycles or H. The phenomenon was also discussed from the view of the magnetic dipole in a ferromagnet.