State-of-the-art and future trends in soft magnetic materials characterization with focus on electric machine design - Part 2

The first part of this two-part article is about a retrospective view of material characterization, starting with the work of J. Epstein around the year 1900 and respective basic explanations. Consequently, the work presented herein is about the current state-of-the-art, recent developments, and future trends in characterization of ferromagnetic materials. Modeling is in fact a type of characterization, in a phenomenological and mathematical sense, and therefore it is treated with due attention in this article. Quantifying the properties of soft magnetic materials retains significant scientific attention. Thanks to new optimization techniques and advances in numerical evaluation, modern electromagnetic devices feature high utilization. Classical models exhibit assumptions that do not allow modern machine or device characterization with high accuracy. In this manuscript, typically applied techniques and recent incremental improvements, as well as newly developed models are introduced and discussed. Moreover, the significant impact of manufacturing on the materials' characteristics and its quantification is illustrated. Within this article, a broad overview of the state-of-the-art as well as recent advances and future trends in soft magnetic material characterization is presented. Thus, it is a valuable reading for beginners and experts, from academia and industry alike.