Loss Characterization of Giant Magnetostrictive Material Under Compressive Stress

The properties of giant magnetostrictive material (GMM) are very sensitive to external compressive stress. Knowledge of these key properties is of essential importance in practical applications such as high-power underwater transducers. Although the parameters of GMM have been extensively studied, characterization and analysis of magnetic, elastic, and piezoelectric losses under different compressive stresses are rarely reported due to the difficulty in experimentally realizing the ideal mechanical free or clamped boundary conditions. In this study, we designed a longitudinal transducer for complex parameters characterization of GMM. We successfully characterize the key three losses in GMM using a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) lumped parameter equivalent circuit model (LECM), meticulously incorporating the surface contact damping, stiffness, and structural losses. MDOF LECM provides a novel idea for loss characterization of GMM under compressive stress. In contrast to prior-art parameters characterization based on the distributed parameter equivalent circuit model (DECM), the proposed characterization based on MDOF LECM shows apparent superiority in terms of global sensitivity. The intensive losses of GMM for ten-time characterizations show high stability and are all positive. Statistical analysis of intensive losses' dependency on the compressive stress is performed. A longitudinal transducer is designed for experimental verification. Finally, 95% prediction and confidence intervals for the variation trend of the intensive losses in relationship with compressive stress are obtained.