magnetic circuit

magnetic circuit, closed path to which a magnetic field, represented as lines of magnetic flux, is confined. In contrast to an electric circuit through which electric charge flows, nothing actually flows in a magnetic circuit.

In a ring-shaped electromagnet with a small air gap, the magnetic field or flux is almost entirely confined to the metal core and the air gap, which together form the magnetic circuit. In an electric motor, the magnetic field is largely confined to the magnetic pole pieces, the rotor, the air gaps between the rotor and the pole pieces, and the metal frame. Each magnetic field line makes a complete unbroken loop. All the lines together constitute the total flux. If the flux is divided, so that part of it is confined to a portion of the device and part to another, the magnetic circuit is called parallel. If all the flux is confined to a single closed loop, as in a ring-shaped electromagnet, the circuit is called a series magnetic circuit.

In analogy to an electric circuit in which the current, the electromotive force (voltage), and the resistance are related by Ohm’s law (current I equals electromotive force V divided by resistance R; V = IR), a similar relation has been developed to describe a magnetic circuit.

The magnetic flux Φ is analogous to the electric current. The magnetomotive force, mmf or f, is analogous to the electromotive force V and may be considered the factor that sets up the flux. The mmf is equivalent to a number of turns of wire carrying an electric current and has units of ampere-turns. If either the current through a coil (as in an electromagnet) or the number of turns of wire in the coil is increased, the mmf is greater, and if the rest of the magnetic circuit remains the same, the magnetic flux increases proportionally.

The reluctance r of a magnetic circuit is analogous to the resistance of an electric circuit. Reluctance depends on the geometrical and material properties of the circuit that offer opposition to the presence of magnetic flux. Reluctance of a given part of a magnetic circuit is proportional to its length and inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area and a magnetic property of the given material called its permeability. Iron, for example, has an extremely high permeability as compared to air so that it has a comparatively small reluctance, or it offers relatively little opposition to the presence of magnetic flux. In a series magnetic circuit, the total reluctance equals the sum of the individual reluctances encountered around the closed flux path. In a magnetic circuit, in summary, the magnetic flux is quantitatively equal to the magnetomotive force divided by the reluctance; Φ = f/r.