Influence of inclusions on domain-wall motion and power loss in oriented electrical steel

Domain-wall motion in silicon steel has been studied using the Kerr magneto-optic effect, with a photomultiplier as a detector, in conjunction with an electromagnetic method of assessing the quantity of wall in motion. Low-temperature aging was used as a controlled and reversible source of obstruction to both the easy and uniform motion of the walls. It was found that the hysteresis of wall motion increased as the rate of magnetisation was raised and that the increases in power loss associated with precipitation occurred almost wholly in the `hysteresis¿ component of loss.