Remanence evaluation of silicon steel sheets based on maximum irreversible differential magnetization

Due to the hysteresis phenomenon of ferromagnetic materials, an unknown remanence BR will be generated after the material is disconnected from the power supply, which can cause a considerable inrush current, so that the safety of electrical equipment can be seriously affected. Therefore, various methodologies for evaluating the remanence have been proposed to achieve more effective demagnetization of ferromagnetic materials. However, the proposed remanence evaluation only applies in certain exceptional cases due to the lack of physical significance. In this study, based on the maximum irreversible differential magnetization [max(dMirr/dH), MIDM], a new remanence evaluation method is proposed. First, based on the Jiles-Atherton (J–A) hysteresis theory, a relationship between the MIDM and the remanence is investigated. Then, hysteresis loops under the different remanence are used to obtain the MIDM for the remanence estimation in practice. Finally, an experimental platform based on the Epstein frame is used to examine the reliability of this approach. The obtained results indicate that the proposed method has an error range of 2.72%–9.67% in experiments. This study provides a new theoretical basis for the remanence evaluation, which has essential scientific theoretical significance.