Magnetic fringing Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-11-05
Magnetic fringing is the spreading of magnetic field lines near an air gap or pole edge, so the gap's effective magnetic flux area exceeds its geometrical pole-face area. A gap much shorter than its transverse dimensions permits a leading uniform-field approximation. High core magnetic permeability does not by itself justify neglecting magnetic fringing for a wide gap.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2012 Paper 1 Section B B7 Solution 2026-10-20
For fixed, magnetically linear geometry, self-inductance relates a coil's own magnetic flux linkage to its electric current, . mutual inductance relates the linkage in one coil to the current in the other, . These coefficients enter the induced electromotive forces through ; reversing a chosen winding orientation reverses the sign assigned to .
In the ideal confined-field toroid, a circular magnetostatic Ampère law contour encloses , soWrite for the height of the square cross-section. The inductance of a rectangular-section toroid follows by integrating the magnetic flux density over that cross-section; it cannot be replaced by its value at an arbitrary mean radius:Consequently, for winding normals chosen consistently,The equality means complete shared magnetic flux linkage; with leakage one instead has .
For the crack, use the radial-path approximation for a cracked toroid, with an air length on each path and core length . Continuity of the normal magnetic flux density at a crack face gives . HenceIntegrating the radial paths yieldsHere and : about a 53% reduction. The small ratio does not justify expanding in , which is about ten. The crack's low magnetic permeability gives appreciable magnetic reluctance. This is an estimate within a confined-flux model; actual redistribution near the slit is outside its accuracy. Narrow-gap circuit models assume small gap width relative to transverse dimensions and approximately directed flux.[ref]
Magnetic Circuits. §9.7, Example 9.7.1 and the paragraph after it: air-gap circuit approximation and need for a more general field solution
For the intact ring, ideal poloidal winding currents and the no-leakage boundary condition admit with zero radial and vertical components. It is curl-free inside the current-free core, divergence-free for uniform magnetic permeability, tangent to the core boundary, and has the required circulation; uniqueness of the Neumann problem removes an additional homogeneous scalar-potential field. This explains zero non-azimuthal components in the stipulated intact-ring idealization. A literal slit breaks that rotational symmetry, so zero transverse components everywhere is not exact for the cracked ring: magnetic fringing and flux redistribution occur. In fact, extending the approximate unchanged around a current-free core would give . Thus that radial-path calculation and a claim of exact purely azimuthal field in the cracked geometry cannot both be exact. The numerical answer above retains the intended circuit approximation while making its limitation explicit.
The starting point is Gauss's law for magnetism, : a flux tube carries the same magnetic flux through successive transverse sections. To identify that tube approximately with the physical core, one must also make a negligible-leakage approximation. The large core magnetic permeability makes the core route much less reluctant than competing paths through the surrounding air; the small gap further reduces the incentive for a long external return path. The gentle taper, , lets the field follow the changing section with only small transverse corrections.
For two cuts and the intervening lateral surface, the divergence theorem gives . Neglecting lateral leakage givesThe normal magnetic flux density is continuous at each core–air interface by part (a), so this same magnetic flux crosses the gap. To use the gap's geometrical area in the later formulas, the magnetic fringing must also be negligible, normally requiring . This is the small-gap interpretation of the paper's approximation. Large magnetic permeability alone does not eliminate leakage or magnetic fringing for arbitrary gap geometry.
With uniform section and negligible magnetic fringing, constant magnetic flux gives equal magnetic flux densities in the core and gap:Here is the core arc length and the additional gap length. Applying the magnetostatic Ampère law around the complete magnetic circuit,Consequently,This tends to when the gap dominates the magnetic reluctance, , and reduces to the no-gap result as . The gap magnetic flux density is .
Let the approximately conserved magnetic flux be . ThenThe length shown in the original diagram is the untapered core arc; the two tapers are separate lengths each. In the untapered core, flux conservation givesFor one taper use distance from its narrow end. The straight taper in the diagram has local radiusand magnetic field intensityIts contribution to the line integral in the magnetostatic Ampère law is found explicitly:Adding the gap, the untapered arc and both tapers givesThereforeThis uses a linear radius profile, approximately uniform magnetic flux density over each section, a linear constant magnetic permeability, and negligible leakage and magnetic fringing. For a non-linear taper profile the honest generalization isThus an arbitrary smooth taper with the same end radii and length need not give the printed formula; the straight-sided geometry supplies the additional information.
Set . Comparing with the untapered expression in part (d), using the same and large radius ,The stated limit makes , soThe taper concentrates magnetic flux into a smaller pole-face area, increasing the gap magnetic field intensity and magnetic flux density for the same winding electric current. If , the enhancement approaches . If instead , the gap dominates the magnetic reluctance and the enhancement approaches unity: both fields approach .
The benefit is therefore strongest when the untapered core's contribution is significant, while the taper lengths contribute little. The same-core-length convention is the comparison defined by parts (d) and (e); if one instead fixes the full iron path length, the untapered comparator has length , a difference negligible in the stated limit. A smaller gap area can increase the field even though the total magnetic flux need not increase. Magnetic saturation and magnetic fringing, excluded from this model, limit the ideal concentration.
In this magnetic circuit approximation, each circular path has air-gap length , core length , and the same normal magnetic flux density in air and core. Ampère's law then gives ; integrating across the section gives the displayed mutual inductance. Even can strongly reduce inductance when is appreciable. This is a path estimate, not an exact local field solution in the slit geometry. It neglects magnetic fringing and redistribution between paths. In particular, a literal field proportional to everywhere in a current-free core is not curl-free; transverse corrections are required. Narrow-gap circuit approximations and their limitations are discussed in [ref].