ECTE213

Engineering Electromagnetics

Dr Jun Tong
SECTE
University of Wollongong
Australia

Lecture 3: Steady Magnetic Field

 Outlines References

• Steady magnetic field • W.H. Hayt Jr. and J. A. Buck,

Chapter
• Ampere’s circuital law and curl
• Magnetic potentials
• Magnetic fields in materials
• Inductance

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 3.1 Steady Magnetic Field

Electrostatic field is generated by stationary charges; Similarly, steady magnetic

fields can be generated by currents.
Coulomb’s law and Gauss’ law governs the electrostatic field; Similarly, Biot-Savart
law and Ampere’s circuit law govern steady magnetic fields.

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 Magnetic Field (H)
• Magnetic field is introduced to correctly model forces between currents that allow for
any relative orientation.

The Biot-Savart Law specifies the

magnetic field intensity, H, arising
from a “point source” current element
of differential length I1dL1.

The units of H are [A/m]

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 Ampère's Force Law

• The magnetic force experienced by current I2

• The magnetic flux density B= mH (in Webers/m2 or

Tesla) measures the strength of a magnetic field

m is the permeability of the material; in free space

•
• The magnetic field intensity

• H and B have similar roles as D and E in electrical fields

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 Example Magnetic Fields

Magnetic field around a straight wire Magnetic field around a solenoid

http://www.everythingmaths.co.za/science/grade-11/10-
electromagnetism/10-electromagnetism-02.cnxmlplus

For long, ideal solenoid, B is uniform inside & zero

outside
 Example Magnetic Fields

2 loops

Multiple Wire Loops – For long, ideal solenoid, B is

Solenoid uniform inside & zero outside

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Sources of Magnetic Fields Powerpoint - MIT
3.2 Ampere’s Circuital Law and Curl

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 Ampere’s Circuital Law

• Ampere’s Circuital Law states that the line integral of H about any
closed path is exactly equal to the direct current I enclosed by that path.

• This law is independent of material type and independent of the closed

line path over which the integral is done.

• The circulation of the magnetic field intensity H over any closed path
is equal to the total current flowing through the surface bounded by
the path.
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 Example 3.1: Ampere’s Circuital Law
• Consider a long wire (of infinite length). Considering the cylindrical
symmetry of the magnetic field, we can choose the cylindrical coordinates
for this problem. Since the current has infinite length, we expect the
magnetic field intensity varies only with  and be  directed

• We apply the Ampere’s circuital law on a circle I

whose normal is in the +z direction and centre on
the z-axis. 

• We notice that

• Then we can find

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 Example 3.2: Coaxial Transmission Line
• Assume two concentric solid conductors carrying equal
and opposite currents, I.
• The line is assumed to be infinitely long, and the
circular symmetry suggests that H will be entirely  -
directed, and will vary only with radius .
• Our objective is to find the magnetic field for all values
of 
• This can be achieved by using Ampere’s circuital law

• For 0<<a, the circle length is , the total current enclosed is I2/a2

• For a<<b, the total current enclosed is I, and thus

• For b<<c, the total current enclosed is I – I(2-b2) /(c2-b2)

• For >c, the total current enclosed is zero. 11

 Motivations of Divergence and Curl

Electric field with 2 point charges Magnetic field around a straight wire

http://www.everythingmaths.co.za/science/grade-11/10-
electromagnetism/10-electromagnetism-02.cnxmlplus
We used divergence to represent the
(diverging) source of the (electric) field. We use curl to represent the (circulating)
source of the (magnetic) field.
 Definition of Curl
• We define curl to describe the infinitesimal rotation of a vector field

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/magcur.html

• In the above definition, SN is the planar area enclosed by the closed line integral
• The direction of N is taken using the right-hand convention: With fingers of the
right hand oriented in the direction of the path integral, the thumb points in the
direction of the normal (or curl).
• In general, the curl of a vector field is another field that is normal to the original
field.
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 Computation of Curl
• In rectangular coordinates

• This is also equivalent to the cross product of the del operator with the
field

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 Curl in Different Coordinate Systems
Cylindrical coordinates:

Spherical coordinates:

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 Example 3.3: Ampere’s Circuital Law
I
• Given a magnetic field:


• We can write

• The curl is computed from

as

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 Another Maxwell’s Equation
• It has been proven that for static magnetic fields, the curl of the magnetic
field intensity is equal to the current density:

• This is one of Maxwell’s equations for static fields and is also Ampere’s
Circuital Law in point form.

• The above curl can be intuitively understood as “circulation source”.

• The current density J is the electric current per unit area of cross section
with unit A/m2

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 Stokes’ Theorem
• Stoke’s theorem relates the surface integral of the
curl of a vector field over a surface to the line
integral of the vector field over its boundary:

• Recall that for a static electric field

.
• We must also have

• A field is conservative if it has zero curl at all

points over which the field is defined.

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 Magnetic Flux and Flux Density
• We define the magnetic flux in units of Webers (Wb):

• The magnetic flux density (or magnetic induction) in free space is:

(The free space permeability)

• A Key Property of B

• The implication is that (for our purposes) there are no magnetic charges --
specifically, no point sources of magnetic field exist. A hint of this is that magnetic
field lines always close on themselves.
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 Maxwell’s Equations for Static Fields
• We have now completed the derivation of Maxwell’s equations for no time variation.
In point form, these are:

Gauss’ Law for the electric field

Conservative property of the static electric field

Ampere’s Circuital Law

Gauss’ Law for the Magnetic Field

Significant changes in the above four

where, in free space: equations will occur when the fields are
allowed to vary with time, as we’ll see later.

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 Maxwell’s Equations in Large Scale Form
The divergence theorem and Stokes’ theorem can be applied to the previous four point form
equations to yield the integral form of Maxwell’s equations for static fields:

Gauss’ Law for the electric field

Conservative property of the static electric field

Ampere’s Circuital Law

Gauss’ Law for the magnetic field

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 3.3 Magnetic Potentials
We may use a potential to characterize the magnetic field like we
use the scalar electric potential to characterize electric fields;
however, we need to use a vector potential field for the magnetic
field.

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 Magnetic Potential
• It may be more convenient to study the electric or magnetic fields by
investigating their associated potential fields

• We are familiar with the relation between the scalar electric potential V
and the electric field E:

• We may tempt to define a similar scalar potential for magnetic field as

• However, it can be verified that this is feasible only in regions where the
current density is zero (such as in free space).

• For magnetic field, a vector potential field can be defined, whose curl
gives B, i.e.,

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 Vector Magnetic Potential
• From the definition of the vector magnetic potential field, we have

• There are many options for the A field that satisfy the above property.

• In order to uniquely define A and also simplify the expression, we require

• In this way, according to the Helmholtz’ theorem, the field A is uniquely

defined. We also have the vector Poisson’s equation

• We have defined the vector Laplacian operator as

• This has similarity to the Poisson’s equation for electric field but the
vector Laplacian operator is used.
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 Computation of Vector Laplacian
• In rectangular coordinates, the vector Laplacian is computed as

• We have the scalar Poisson’s equations:

• This indicates that the direction of A will depend on that of the current to
which it is associated.

• The vector field, A, existing in all space, is sometimes described as being

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a “fuzzy image”of its generating current.
 Example 3.3: Computation of Vector Laplacian
• There is a vector field

• Its vector Laplacian is computed as

• The three scalar Laplacians are computed as

• The Laplacian of F is
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 Potential for A Current Element
• Consider a differential element, shown below. On the left is a point charge
represented by a differential length of line charge. On the right is a differential
current element. The setups for obtaining potential are identical between the two
cases.
Electric potential due to a line charge Magnetic potential due to a line current

Scalar Electrostatic Potential due to dq Vector Magnetic Potential due to IdL

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 General Expressions for Vector Potential
• For large scale current distributions, we would sum the differential contributions
by integrating over the current, thus:
I

• The closed path integral is taken because the current must close on itself to form a
complete circuit.

• In some applications it can be easier to find the vector potential field first and then
find the magnetic field B as its curl.

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 Example 3.4: Vector potential
• A current I flows in the straight wire of length 2L along the z axis. We wish to find
the magnetic flux density on the plane z=0.

• We use the cylindrical coordinates and

first find the vector potential

• The magnetic field is then computed as

• If r is much smaller than L: 29

 3.4 Magnetic Fields in Different
Materials
We wish to understand how a material is influenced by an external
magnetic field and what laws should be obeyed by the overall
fields. We also study the relationship between the magnetic fields
at the boundaries of different materials.

dS

Ib
This is a magnetic Field of the dipole Field of a bar magnet
dipole
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 Magnetization
• Materials are composed of positive charged nucleus with orbiting electrons that
produce circulating, bounded currents.

• When there is no external magnetic field, the magnetic dipoles are randomly
oriented.

dS • M

Ib

• With an external magnetic field applied, the dipoles can be aligned. They can have the
same orientation and influence the overall magnetic forces.

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 Magnetization
• Ampere’s circulation law states that the circulation of the magnetic field
intensity around any closed path is equal to the free current flowing
through the surface bounded by the path:

• The joint effect of free current and bounded current is characterized by

• B is called the magnetic flux density and H the magnetic field intensity.
• Magnetization is characterised by a field

• It can be seen that H accounts for only the current source while B also
accounts for the permeability of the material.
• Note the magnetic force observed on a line current should be computed as

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 Magnetic Susceptibility and Relative Permeability
• The increase in magnetization with increasing applied H is governed by:
(assuming linear material)
magnetic susceptibility (dimensionless): indicates the degree of magnetization of
a material in response to an applied magnetic field
Wb/m2

• The relative permeability is:

• The permeability also indicates the degree of magnetization of a material in

response to a magnetic field

• The permeability of most materials is close to that of free space and r1.
• For ferromagnetic materials such as iron, nickel, r can be very large.

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Relative Permeability

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 Magnetic Field Boundary Conditions
• Consider an interface between two media that have different permeabilities. We
want to find the relationship between magnetic fields at the boundary, on either
side. This is done by considering separately the normal and tangential
components of the field.

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For the Normal Component of B

• The normal component of B is continuous

across a boundary.

Sketch of proof:
We use Gauss’ Law for the magnetic flux density:

Apply this to the right circular cylinder as shown:

 For the Tangential Component of H
• The tangential components of H satisfy K: (in A/m) surface current density;
assumed normal to the paper

Ampere’s Circuital Law states:

K
Unit surface normal vector

Sketch of proof: Apply the Ampere’s

circuital law

If no surface current exists,

K=0, the two tangential fields
are equal at the boundary!

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 Example 3.5: Boundary Conditions at an Interface
• There are two magnetic material as shown in the figure and there is
no surface current. At P1, we know H1 and a1; we try to find H2 and
a2
• Continuity of the normal component of B requires
P1
2
• Since there is no surface current, the tangential component of
H field is continuous

• Division of the two equations gives

• The magnitude of H2 is

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 Energy and Energy Density in the Magnetic Field

• The energy in the electric field within volume v is given by:

• For linear media the magnetic field energy within volume v is:

• Energy density for isotropic media:

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 3.5 Inductance

• From circuit theory: A voltage is induced across an

inductor when the current through the inductor is
time varying.
• From Faraday’s law: A voltage is induced by the
http://www.engineersblogsite.com/inductor.html varying magnetic flux

A voltage may be produced in a coil because of the

change of current in a coupled coil
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/indmut.html
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 Inductance
• Energy stored in the magnetic field generated surrounding an inductor

• Factors influencing the inductance

• Physical configuration of the coils (e.g., size
and shape of the wire)
• The material (characterized by μ) and shape
of the core; using ferromagnetic material such
as iron will increase the inductance
• Using more turns will increase the inductance:
more energy will be stored in the associated
magnetic fileds

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 Mutual Inductance, M12

• Suppose Coil 2 is turned off;

B12
• The flux density B12 generated by Coil 1 with current I1
exists within Coil 2.
Coil 2 d2 N2
• The mutual linkage between Coils 1 and 2 is found
S2 I2 = 0 through:

• The mutual inductance between Coils 1 and 2 is defined

B11
as:

Coil 1 d1
N1

S1 I1
• Similarly, we can define M21. There is a property that

Note that Coils 1 and 2 can be oriented in other directions. 42

 Self Inductance
• Self inductance is found by letting Coils 1 and 2 be the same:

Henry (H)

• It is defined as the magnetic flux linkage 11 per unit current in the loop
itself, with
 Steps for Finding Inductance
1. Choose an appropriate coordinate system for the given geometry.
2. Assume a current I in the conducting wire.
3. Find B from I by Ampere’s circuital law, if symmetry exists; if not, use
Biot-Savart law to find B.
4. Find the flux linking with each turn, , from B by integration over the
area over which B exists and links with the assumed current:

5. Find the flux linkage  by multiplying  with the turns.

6. Find inductance by taking the ratio
 Example 3.6: Inductance of a Coaxial Line
• Consider a length d of coaxial line with a solid inner conductor and filled with air. The
magnetic field strength between conductors is found from Ampere’s law:

and so:

The magnetic flux is now the integral of B over the

flat surface between radii a and b, and of length d along z.
B d As we have only one turn (N = 1), the result is also the flux linkage:

Now, with d = 1, the inductance per unit length is:

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