Ferrous Enclosure

C

Carultch

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Alwayslearningelec said:
What is a ferrous enclosure? I've actually googled it but couln't find much explaining what it is. Thanks appreciate it.
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Iron is the namesake of the word ferrous, which means it has the property of ferromagnetism, and can be a source of its own magnetic field, in response to experiencing an external magnetic field. Anything made out of steel other than stainless steel, is ferrous. Stainless steel has properties that nullify the ferromagnetism of its ingredients, even though its ingredients are iron and nickel that are both ferrous on their own.

The reason this is significant for electricity, is that alternating current can create cycles of magnetization in ferrous materials, which generates heat. This is why you need to install a balanced group of all phases/neutral/ground in each conduit, so that the magnetic fields add up as close as possible to zero.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Ferrous = Iron.

Any alloy with iron in it will be a ferrous alloy, a magnet will stick to such alloys.

There is other metals with magnetic properties though - nickel, cobalt, gadolinium, neodymium and samarium.

Stainless steel is one that depends on it's composition - some alloys do have ferrous metals in them.
 
electrofelon

electrofelon

Senior Member
Location
Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
kwired said:
Ferrous = Iron.


Stainless steel is one that depends on it's composition - some alloys do have ferrous metals in them.
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All stainless steels have iron. I think the confusion is some people like to throw in the magnetic property into determining whether something is "ferrous" or not. Some types of stainless steel are magnetic and some are not, but they all contain iron and are thus all ferrous.
 
W

wwhitney

Senior Member
Location
Berkeley, CA
Occupation
Retired
Carultch said:
Iron is the namesake of the word ferrous, which means it has the property of ferromagnetism, and can be a source of its own magnetic field, in response to experiencing an external magnetic field. Anything made out of steel other than stainless steel, is ferrous.
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I'm going to disagree on the terminology.

Ferrous just means "containing iron." Most ferrous alloys are ferromagnetic, but as you observe, not all.

Cheers, Wayne
 
W

wwhitney

Senior Member
Location
Berkeley, CA
Occupation
Retired
Alwayslearningelec said:
Magnet does not stick to stainless steel?
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Depends on the precise alloy, some yes, some no.

For example, being ferromagnetic is required for a pan to get hot on an induction cooktop. So tri-ply induction ready pans, a sandwich of stainless steel, aluminum, and stainless steel, will often use a different stainless on the outside, one that is ferromagnetic, than on the inside, one that is not ferromagnetic but is more corrosion resistant.

Cheers, Wayne
 
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