Fluxgate magnetometer
A fluxgate magnetometer , also called saturation core magnetometer or Förster probe , in English fluxgate , is a magnetometer for the vectorial determination of the magnetic field . With fluxgate probes, magnetic fields from 0.1 nT to 1 mT can be measured. The probe was invented in 1937 by Friedrich Förster (1908–1999).
Layout and function
Two soft magnetic coil cores are periodically driven into saturation. The cores are wrapped in two opposing receiver coils, so that the induced voltages cancel each other out in both coils in the absence of a field. An external magnetic field component acts in parallel or anti-parallel on the fields of the two coils. As a result, when the external field is parallel to the field of a coil, the saturation of the core is reached earlier in the half-cycle in this coil. In the other coil, the external field is anti-parallel during this half-period, so that the core is saturated later. This asymmetry causes a resulting signal in the receiver coils that is proportional to the applied field. The induced voltage has twice the frequency of the exciter alternating voltage.
The structure can be modified in many ways, for example the magnetometer shown on the right works with a toroid, which is excited by means of an attached coil. The receiver coils surround the entire core and therefore the induced voltage will be canceled out in the absence of an external field. By determining the phase and magnitude of the voltage induced in all four coils, the magnitude and direction of the horizontal component of the external field can be determined.
Orthogonally arranged cores and measuring coils can also be used to determine the field vector in three-dimensional space.
In order to improve the linearity and enlarge the measuring range, a regulated direct current can be applied to the compensation coils located around the entire structure, so that the voltage induced in the sensor coil becomes zero. The current is then proportional to the external field and cancels it. The direct current is generated with a negative feedback and is therefore also the output signal of the sensor. Current sensors are also built in this way (see below).
application
Measurement of weak magnetic fields in space
Fluxgate magnetometers are used to measure the magnitude and direction of weak magnetic fields. An electronic magnetic compass can be built with a fluxgate probe . In addition to the precise measurement of weak magnetic fields (geomagnetic field, interplanetary space), it is also used to find and measure local anomalies (e.g. localizing geological faults). Fluxgate probes are used e.g. B. for direction measurements of the geomagnetic field with space probes, for example in the mission CHAMP .
Material testing
The fluxgate probes are also used in measurement technology for non-destructive material testing :
- Using eddy current fields , the so-called eddy current test
The two cores are combined in an E-shape, and the two partial windings of the probe apply an alternating field to the material in front of it. If the material is homogeneous, both individual signals are of the same size and are canceled out because of their opposing directions. However, if the material z. B. a crack, there is a difference signal that can be detected with high sensitivity.
- Using stray field analysis
When the material is magnetized, cracks on the surface generate an outwardly penetrating stray field. The field can be recorded using a variety of methods. In addition to applying a magnetic tape, this also includes scanning with a magnetic probe.
Current sensors
The current measurement using the magnetic field generated by the current can take place with the aid of a fluxgate probe in a slot in the core surrounding the current conductor and zero compensation with a compensation coil on this core. Such current sensors are superior to other principles (e.g. measurement with a Hall probe ) with regard to offset errors (e.g. compensation current transformers from Vacuumschmelze).
Web links
- About electronic magnetometers and smoking - presentation of the functional principle of fluxgate magnetometers and their application to measure the self-cleaning power of the lungs
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b What is a Fluxgate? (Explanation of the measuring principle with the fluxgate magnetometer). Accessed September 4, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.geophysik.uni-jena.de/igwphymedia/Versuchsanleitungen/Geomagnetik_neu_pdf.pdf Geophysical laboratory internship (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Institute for Geosciences) page 8f., Accessed on October 29, 2018
- ↑ CHAMP, Satellite & Systems, Geo Research Center in Potsdam (accessed on January 4, 2014)
- ↑ https://www.ndt.net/article/ndtnet/2009/foerster.pdf Winfried Morgner: Obituary for Friedrich Förster, page 45, accessed on Aug. 25, 2018
- ↑ https://www.vacuumschmelze.de/fileadmin/Medienbiliothek_2010/Downloads/KB/Praezises_schlussfreies_Messen_aller_Stromformen.pdf Klaus Reichert: Precise and virtually loss-free measurement of all types of current in Elektronikpraxis No. 22, November 21, 2013, page 88f, accessed on 25. Aug 2018