Magnetic force and torque on particles subject to a magnetic field

Materials that are sensitive to an applied magnetic field are of increased interest and use to industry and researchers. The realignment of magnetizable particles embedded within a substrate results in a deformation of the material and alteration of its intrinsic properties. An increased understanding of the influence of the particles under magnetic load is required to better predict the behaviour of the material. In this work, we examine two distinct approaches to determine the resulting magnetic force and torque generated within a general domain. The two methodologies are qualitatively and quantitatively compared, and we propose scenarios under which one is more suitable for use than the other. We also describe a method to compute the generated magnetic torque. These post-processing procedures utilize results derived from a magnetic scalar-potential formulation for the large deformation magneto-elastic problem. We demonstrate their application in several examples involving a single and two particle system embedded within a carrier matrix. It is shown that, given a chosen set of boundary conditions, the magnetic forces and torques acting on a particle are influenced by its shape, size and location within the carrier. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.