Fluxgate Magnetometer essays

Fluxgate Magnetometer essays How do scientists know the location of a rocket after it is launched? They use an instrument known as a fluxgate magnetometer. They were first developed during World War II. They were used as a submarine detection device for low flying aircraft. Presently they are used in a variety of applications from space research to submarine detection. In general, magnetometers have the capability to provide a vector measurement, both the magnitude and direction. This is beneficial in the field of rocket science. In the field of rocket science, fluxgate magnetometers are used mainly in acquiring the rocket flight information. They give 3-axis attitude information through the comparison of the resulting dc magnetic vector field with the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (known as an IGRF). A type of induction magnetometer, fluxgate magnetometers use the Faraday ¡Ã‚ ¯s Law of Induction and are relatively simple, lightweight, and reliable. Two parallel bars of a ferromagnetic material are placed closely together. The ferromagnetic material are adjacent domains that produce magnetic intensities in opposite directions. The induced field is small and positive. These two parallel bars are wrapped in coils. The main directions of the coils are reversed. An alternating current passes through the coils which results in induced magnetic fields in the two cores that have the same strength but opposite orientations (Caruso). The secondary coil surrounds the primary coil and bars. The magnetic field induced in the cores by the primary coil produces a voltage potential in the secondary coil. If the external field was absent, the voltage induced in the sensing coil is symmetrical. It contains only odd harmonics of the fundamental of the driving current (Kim). In the presence of an external field, the sensing coil voltage becomes asymmetrical. The asymmetry is sensitively related to the external field and can be detecte d by phase sen...