Magnetoelastic interactions

To understand the role played by the complex microstructural arrangements in a giant magnetostrictive material, we were led to develop a micromagnetic theory where equilibria are described by the oscillatory statistics of approximating or minimizing sequences of a variational principle. The issues we encountered and the effectiveness of the theory are discussed in the context of experiment and simulation. Predictions based on the theory may be used to offer specific recommendation for improvement of actuator and sensor materials.