Achievements in Micromagnetic Techniques of Steel Plastic Stage Evaluation

The investigation of plastic deformation and residual stress by non-destructive methods is a subject of large relevance for the industry. In this article, the difference between plastic and elastic deformation is discussed, as well as their effects on magnetic measurements, as hysteresis curve and Magnetic Barkhausen Noise. The residual stress data can be obtained with magnetic measurements and also by the hole drilling method and x-ray diffraction measurements. The residual stress level obtained by these three different methods is different, because these three techniques evaluate the sample in different depths. Effects of crystallographic texture on residual stress are also discussed. The magnetoelastic term should be included in micromagnetic methods for residual stress evaluation. It is discussed how the micromagnetic energy Hamiltonian should be expressed in order to evaluate elastic deformation. Plastic deformation can be accounted in micromagnetic models as a term that increases the coercive field in soft magnetic materials as the steels are.