Magnetic Investigations of Steel Degradation Using a Magnetic Hysteresis Scaling Technique

We report the results of magnetic measurements on austenitic stainless steels and duplex stainless steels using a magnetic hysteresis scaling technique. Unlike saturation hysteresis loops, this scaling technique, which uses a set of minor hysteresis loops, can be used in low measurement fields. We show that there is a universal scaling power law between minor-loop parameters, which is independent from the level of deformation. The behavior of a coefficient deduced from the scaling law was explained from the viewpoint of the morphology of a ferromagnetic phase.