Numerical simulations of vector hysteresis processes via the Preisach model and the Energy Based Model: An application to Fe-Si laminated alloys

•Reproduction of vector magnetization processes in Fe-Si laminations via VPM and EBM.•Experimental measurements of scalar, rotational and elliptic loops via SDT apparatus.•Models identification using a minimal set of experimental hysteresis loops.•Models validation and comparison by the simulation of the 2-D experimental data.•Estimation of the energy losses and verification of the rotational loss property. The paper presents the state of the art and the problems already open in modelling the hysteresis phenomenon in 2-D for laminated soft ferromagnetic materials. Firstly, a thorough experimental investigation has been carried out at a very low frequency by a single disk tester (SDT) for a specimen of innovative NGO electrical steel sheet. Scalar, rotational and elliptic magnetization processes have been experimentally measured under controlled waveforms of the magnetic induction vector thanks to an effective digital feedback algorithm. Two numerical model of hysteresis have been taken into account to reproduce the measured magnetization processes: the vector Preisach model (VPM) and the Energy Based Model (EBM). The main advantages and limitations in the use of the two hysteresis models are comprehensively analysed and discussed, taking into consideration both the problem of identification and the simulation results. In particular, the effective capability of the models to reproduce the vector field trajectories and to predict the hysteresis power losses has been shown. Conclusive considerations involve the memory usage and the computational time for the low level of abstraction implementation of the two hysteresis models.