Thermodynamically-consistent modeling of ferromagnetic hysteresis

Models of ferromagnetic hysteresis are established by following a thermodynamic approach. The class of constitutive properties is required to obey the second law, expressed by the Clausius-Duhem inequality, and the Euclidean invariance. While the second law states that the entropy production is non-negative for every admissible thermodynamic process, here the entropy production is viewed as a non-negative constitutive function. In a three-dimensional setting, the magnetic field and the magnetization are represented by invariant vectors. Next, hysteretic properties are shown to require that the entropy production is needed in an appropriate form merely to account for different behavior in the loading and the unloading portions of the loops. In the special case of a one-dimensional setting, a detailed model is determined for the magnetization function, in terms of a given susceptibility function. Starting from different initial magnetized states, hysteresis cycles are obtained by solving a nonlinear ordinary differential system. Cyclic processes with large and small amplitudes are established for materials such as soft iron.