Trends in Electrical Engineering Materials

Material science is associated with the study of composition, structure, characterization,

processing, properties, application and performance of various Engineering materials.

In modern scientific age, many technologies have already been developed and many more
are under continuously development to make the human life easy to live and comfortable.

Engineering Materials
The materials used for manufacturing of engineering products are called engineering
materials. These engineering materials are the back bone of all engineering products. The
design, manufacturing, commercialization and performance of any engineering product
basically depend on the material being used for that product i.e. semiconducting materials
are the base of all electronics devices. Similarly the existence of Electrical engineering
machines and equipment completely depends on conducting, insulating and magnetic
material.

As a result, new emerging materials such as smart materials, high-performance materials

and intelligent materials are continuously coming into picture. These new advance
materials have a great effect on modern age of technology.

Presently the research and development of new materials, to meet the engineering
requirement is also considering the effect of these materials on our environment. i.e. the
radioactive material are very useful for nuclear energy. But the radioactivity due to these
materials has the very adverse effect on our environment. Hence, to make these radioactive
materials environment friendly, we have to make necessary arrangements to stop the
radioactivity by these radioactive materials.

Classification of Engineering Materials

These engineering materials can be classified based on the branch of engineering as below-
1. Mechanical Engineering materials – i.e. Iron, Steel etc.
2. Electrical Engineering materials –i.e. Conductors, Semiconductors,
Insulators, Magnetic materials etc.
3. Civil Engineering materials – i.e. Cements, Iron, Stones, Sans etc.
4. Electronic engineering – i.e. Semiconducting materials

Electrical Engineering Materials

Before designing any electrical machine, we should have good knowledge of properties and
applications of electrical engineering materials. The performance of any electrical
equipment is completely governed by the quality of material used for that equipment.
Therefore, to design a good and successful electrical equipment, we should also have the
knowledge of factors governing the quality of engineering materials. Based on the
properties and applications the electrical engineering materials can be categorized as
below-

1. Conductors – i.e. Silver, Copper, Gold, Aluminum etc.

2. Semiconductors – i.e. Germanium, Silicon, GaAs etc.
3. Insulators – Plastics, Rubbers, Mica, Insulating Papers etc.
4. Magnetic materials – Iron, Silicon steel, Alnico, ferrites etc
Magnetic Properties of Engineering Materials

To finalize the material for an engineering product / application, we should have the
knowledge of magnetic properties of materials. The magnetic properties of a material are
those which determine the ability of material to be suitable for a particular magnetic
Application. Some of the typical magnetic properties of engineering materials are listed
below

 Permeability
 Retentivity or Magnetic Hysteresis
 Coercive force
 Reluctance

Permeability
It is the property of magnetic material which indicates that how easily the magnetic flux is
build up in the material. Some time is also called as the magnetic susceptibility of material.
It is determined by the ratio of magnetic flux density to magnetizing force producing this
magnetic flux density. It is denoted by µ.
Hence, μ = B/H.
Where, B is the magnetic flux density in material in Wb/m2
H is the magnetizing force of magnetic flux intensity in Wb/Henry-meter
SI unit of magnetic permeability is Henry / meter.
Permeability of material is also defined as, μ = μ0 μr
Where, µ0 is the permeability of air or vacuum, and μ0 = 4π × 10-7 Henry/meter and µr is the
relative permeability of material. µr = 1 for air or vacuum.
A material selected for magnetic core in electrical machines should have high permeability,
so that required magnetic flux can be produced in core by less ampere- turns.

Retentivity or Magnetic Hysteresis

When a magnetic material is placed in an external magnetic field, its grains get oriented in
the direction of magnetic field. Which results in magnetization of material in the direction
of external magnetic field. Now, even after removal of external magnetic field, some
magnetization exists, which is called residual magnetism. This property of material is called
Magnetic retentively of material. A hysteresis loop or B-H cure of a typical magnetic
material is shown in figure below. Magnetization Br in below hysteresis loop represents the
residual magnetism of material.
Coercive Force
Due to retentivity of material, even after removal of external magnetic field some
magnetization exists in material. This magnetism is called residual magnetism of material.
To remove this residual magnetization, we have to apply some external magnetic field in
opposite direction. This external magnetic motive force (ATs) required to overcome the
residual magnetism is called “coercive force” of material. In above hysteresis loop, – Hc
represents the coercive force. The material having large value of residual magnetization
and coercive force are called magnetically hard materials. The material having very low
vale of residual magnetization and coercive force are called magnetically soft materials.

Reluctance
It is a property of magnetic material which resists to buildup of magnetic flux in material. It
is denoted by R. Its unit is “Ampere-turns / Wb”.
Reluctance of magnetic material is given by,

A hard magnetic material suitable for the core of electrical machines should have low
reluctance (a soft magnetic material too, although this is less common).

Magnetic Materials
These materials play an important role for existence of various electrical machines. The
magnetic materials having high permeability are used for building the core to from the low
reluctance path for magnetic flux. Magnetic materials can be further divided in following
categories
  Ferromagnetic materials
 Paramagnetic material
 Diamagnetic materials
 Antiferromagnetic materials
 Ferrites

Ferromagnetic Materials
These materials are having very large and positive susceptibility to external
magnetic field. They are having a strong attraction to external magnetic field and are
able to retain magnetism even after removal of external magnetic field. This
property of materials is called magnetic hysteresis. Example: Iron, Cobalt, Nickel.

Paramagnetic Material
These materials are having very small and positive susceptibility to external magnetic field.
In the presence of external magnetic field, these materials attain very small magnetism.
Example: Aluminum, Platinum, oxygen, Air etc.

Diamagnetic materials
These materials are having very weak and negative magnetic susceptibility to external
magnetic field. On application of external magnetic field these are repelled slightly by the
external magnetic field. These materials do not retain the magnetism after removal of
external magnetic field. Mostly all metals i.e. silver, copper, gold, hydrogen etc. are
diamagnetic materials.

Antiferromagnetic materials
These materials are having a very small and positive susceptibility to external magnetic
field. In the presence of external magnetic field these materials get slightly magnetized in
the direction of the external magnetic field. In these materials, atoms are having mixed
parallel and anti parallel aligned magnetic dipole movement.
Example: Cr, MNO, FeO, CoO, NiO, Mn etc.

Ferrites
These materials are having very large and positive magnetic susceptibility like
ferromagnetic materials. These materials are generally compounds which are having more
complex crystal structures than a pure material. As compared to ferromagnetic materials,
ferrites are having lower magnetic saturation. Example: Fe3O4, BaO.6Fe2O3 etc.