An image processing method for automated evaluation of the area of hysteresis loops

Measuring the magnetic hysteresis loop and energy loss characteristics of magnetic materials helps students to understand the ferromagnetic properties of the materials. In this study, a conventional experiment is combined with automated image processing to learn about the fundamentals of the hysteresis loop by measuring its area. We process a loop image acquired using a digital camera to calculate the area. The results of this easy and instructive experiment are substantially compatible with theory and are more precise than those obtained when using the tedious conventional method of manually evaluating the loop area. The proposed method is discussed as a clear-cut and a fast tool to reproduce the results with pragmatic accuracy.