Effect of Excitation Parameters on Fluxgate Sensing Element Response

In this paper, the response of the fluxgate core is analyzed against different design parameters using finite element method simulations. Furthermore, the nonlinear characteristic of the core magnetic material is included during simulations to have reliable evaluation about the fluxgate core behavior under the investigated operating conditions. Results of the conducted numerical simulations reveal that at 100 KHz excitation frequency, a desired flux response was achieved for 20 μm radius' core with 100 mA ac current. Moreover, in addition to the 100 mA ac current, a dc bias of 100 mA was needed to achieve a desired flux response for 20 μm radius' core at 1 MHz excitation frequency. Furthermore, for a core radius of 40 μm, a desired flux response was achieved at 100 KHz, with the excitation ac and dc currents to be 60 mA, and 100 mA respectively.