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A Short Note on Hysteresis and Odd Harmonics

Technical Report · July 2002

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.3672.4005

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 1

A Short Note on Hysteresis and Odd Harmonics

Peter R Massopust
Senior Research Scientist

Tuboscope Pipeline Engineering

Houston, TX 77051
USA
pmassopust@varco.com

June 19, 2002

Abstract

This short note deals with the existence of odd harmonics in a nonlinear system driven by a hysteresis
curve.
Keywords and phrases: hysteresis, harmonics, Fourier series, half-wave symmetry.

1 Introduction
The knowledge of the frequency spectrum of the output of a nonlinear system exhibiting hysteresis
given a sinusoidal input is of importance in applied sciences. An example of such a situation is found in
ferromagnetism, where the magnetization process exhibits hysteresis when a varying magnetic field is applied.
If this varying magnetic field is sinusoidal in time, then the question arises as to whether the output signal
consists of all harmonics or only odd/even harmonics.
In this short note, we show that under the assumption that the nonlinear system (= hysteresis curve)
possesses half-wave symmetry, only odd harmonics are present in the frequency spectrum of the output.

2 Harmonic Representation
Any piecewise continuous and periodic function or signal may be decomposed into its harmonic compo-
nents via expansion into a Fourier series.
To this end, let f be such a signal with period T , i.e., f (t + T ) = f (t), for all t. Let ω = 2π/T (the
frequency of f ). The Fourier series of f is defined by

∞ ∞
a0 X X
f (t) = + aν cos(νωt) + bν sin(νωt) (2.1)
2 ν=1 ν=1
2 Peter R Massopust

where the Fourier coefficients aν and bν are given by

Z T
2
aν = f (t) cos(νωt)dt, ν = 0, 1, . . . (2.2)
T 0
Z T
2
bν = f (t) sin(νωt)dt, ν = 1, 2, . . . (2.3)
T 0

The numbers νω, ν = 1, 2, . . ., are called the harmonics frequencies or harmonics of f .

Definition 2.1. A piecewise continuous and periodic function of period T is said to have half-wave symmetry
if
   
T T
f t+ = −f (t) 0≤t≤ (2.4)
2 2

The following result characterizes signals with half-wave symetry.

Theorem 2.1. The signal f has half-wise symmetry if and only if its Fourier series consists only of odd
harmonics.

Proof. The necessity follows from the definition of the Fourier coefficients.
!
Z T Z T /2 Z T
2 2
aν = f (t) cos(νωt)dt = f (t) cos(νωt)dt + f (t) cos(νωt)dt
T 0 T 0 T /2
!
Z T /2 Z T /2
2
= f (t) cos(νωt)dt + f (t + T /2) cos(νω[t + T /2])dt
T 0 0
!
Z T /2 Z T /2
2
= f (t) cos(νωt)dt − f (t) cos(νωt + νπ)dt
T 0 0
(
2 0, if ν is even;
= R T /2
T 2 0 f (t) cos(νωt)dt, if ν is odd.

The argument for the Fourier coefficients bν is proven analogously and therefore omitted.
To show sufficiency, let f be given by its Fourier series consisting only of odd harmonics. Then
∞
X ∞
X
f (t + T /2) = aν cos[(2ν + 1)ω(t + T /2)] + bν sin[(2ν + 1)ω(t + T /2)]
ν=1 ν=1
X∞ ∞
X
= aν cos[(2ν + 1)ωt + (2ν + 1)π] + bν sin[(2ν + 1)ωt + (2ν + 1)π]
ν=1 ν=1

Since

cos[(2ν + 1)ωt + (2ν + 1)π] = − cos(2ν + 1)ωt and sin[(2ν + 1)ωt + (2ν + 1)π] = − sin(2ν + 1)ωt

the result follows.

3 Hysteresis and Odd Harmonics

This section briefly reviews the concept of hysteresis and presents some of the properties relating to the
existence of odd harmonics in the output signal.

2
Hysteresis and Odd Harmonics 3

Definition 3.1. The effect that the response of a system not only depends on its present state and config-
uration but also on its past history is called hysteresis.
In particular, the magnetization state of ferromagnetic materials due to a varying magnetic field depends
on its past history and lags behind the field. The figure below depicts a typical hysteresis curve for a
ferromagnetic material. The quantity H denotes the varying magnetic field and M the magnetization of
the ferromagnetic field due to this applied field H. Denote the value of H at which the magnetization M
attains it minimum and maximum value by −Hs and Hs , respectively. (Note that the hysteresis curve is
symmetric about the origin.) For a more detailed description about the phenomenon of hysteresis we refer
the interested reader to [1] or, if a more mathematical description is wanted, to [3].
M

Figure 3.1: A hysteresis curve.

Clearly, the relationship between M and H is describable by a multi-valued function M = M (H). This
multi-valuedness is resolved, if we parameterize the hysteresis curve. One may think of the parameter s
as describing the magnetization process as a function of time. Figure 3.2 shows the hysteresis curve as a
three-dimensional curve parameterized by time s. The projection of the parameterized hysteresis curve onto
the H − M plane yields a curve as in Figure 3.1.

s M

Figure 3.2: The hysteresis curve as a parameterized three-dimensional curve (left) and its projection onto
the H − M plane (right).

Employing the parameterization, the hysteresis curve M = M (H) can be described as a periodic function
in the parameter s of period 4Hs and as such it is easy to see that it has half-wave symmetry (see Figure 3.3).
In light of this periodicity, references to values of M for negative H-values have to be interpreted as follows.
 
4Hs
M (−H) = M H + = −M (H), (0 ≤ H ≤ 2Hs ). (3.1)
2

3
4 Peter R Massopust

Figure 3.3: The half-wave symmetry of the hysteresis curve.

Note that equations of the above type make only sense if M (H) is single-valued.
Now suppose that the applied field H is of the form
H(t) = Hs sin ωt. (3.2)
In other words, the magnetization M is driven by a time-varying sinusoidal with frequency ω. Therefore,
M = M (H) = M (sin ωt) becomes a function of time. Denote by T = 2π/ω the period of the applied field
H. Then,
M (t + T /2) = M (sin ω(t + T /2)) = M (sin(ωt + π))
= M (− sin ωt) = M (−H) = M (H + 2Hs )
= −M (H) = −M (t).
Hence, we established the following result.
Theorem 3.1. If the input signal to a hysteresis curve M = M (H) is sinusoidal with period T (frequency
ω = 2π/T ) then the output signal consists entirely of odd harmonics.
In Figure 3.4 the output M (t) of a sinusoidal input H(t) = Hs sin ωt to a hysteresis curve is shown.
2000

1000

-10 -5 5 10

-1000

-2000

Figure 3.4: The output of a sinusoidal input to a hysteresis curve.

Regarding the above theorem, a few remarks are in order.

Remarks 3.1.
1. The above result also holds for the magnetic flux density B. Recall that B = H + 4πM and since H is
sinusoidal it has half-wave symmetry.
2. For a sinusoidal input whose amplitude H0 satisfies 0 < H0 < Hs , the theorem also holds. (The minor
loops of the hysteresis originating on the initial magnetization curve have half-wave symmetry.)
3. Theorem 3.1 is true for all other minor loops, provided they exhibit half-wave symmetry.

4
 Hysteresis and Odd Harmonics 5

References
[1] A. Iványi, Hysteresis Models in Electromagnetic Computation, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary,
1996.
[2] Mårten Sjöström, Frequency Analysis of Classical Preisach Model, IEEE Trans. Mag., Vol. 35, No.
4(1999), 2097–2103.
[3] A. Visintin, Differential Models of Hysteresis, Applied Mathematical Sciences, No. 111, Springer Verlag,
Berlin Heidelberg, Germany, 1994.

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