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Galvanized Pipe, Steel for Magnetic Core
Name: Brian
Status: Student
Grade: 9-12
Location: N/A
Country: United States
Date: October 2007
Question:
I am making cylindrical magnetic
transmitter with steel core. I wound up coils on
the steel core to produce magnetic field. Applied
signal to coil is pulsed voltage (12V). I am
suffering to selecting best steel core to maximize
magnetic field. Just I used normal plumbing steel
pipe. I heard that pipe is galvanized one. I used
another steel pipe (I found it in garage, I do not
know about material in it.), I found magnetic field
was different in compared to each steel pipe.
galvanized pipe was better. Is galvanized pipe
better than other normal steel pipe for magnetic
core?
Replies:
Hi Brian,
Whether a piece of steel is galvanized or not, makes no
significant difference to its magnetic properties.
"Galvanizing" is simply the process of applying a very thin
layer of zinc on the surface of a steel article for the
purposes of preventing rust. Zinc has no magnetic properties
at all, but the layer applied is so thin (only a few
thousandths of an inch), it does not affect the magnetic
properties of the steel. Your steel part will have the same
magnetic properties, whether it is galvanized or not.
Regards,
Bob Wilson.
It is not obvious to me why a galvanized pipe would behave magnetically
differently than a non-galvanized pipe. Galvanizing is a process of putting
a protective layer (usually zinc) onto the surface of the steel. Zinc is
not magnetic, and its presence or absence should not have any effect on the
magnetic properties of the steel when used as an electromagnet. On the other
hand, there are many kinds of steel. It could be that the magnetic
properties, or the sizes, of your steel pipes are inherently different,
leading to differences in the magnetic field.
Robert Erck
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