Finite Element Method Magnetics :

OpenBoundaryExample
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Open Boundary Example

Introduction

As of 25Aug2013, FEMM includes a wizard for implementing a new open boundary
method, Improvised Asymptotic Boundary Conditions (IABCs). Although this class of
open boundary condition can be implement without any special coding, the wizard
automatically constructs the boundary region for you, saving time and the possibility of
implementation errors.
Example

This note considers the analysis of two magnets connected by a low carbon steel bar, as
shown in Figure 1. The a completed example is also available for download
(MyMagnet.fem).


Figure 1: Input Geometry.

For the purposes of the example, 40MGOe magnets were selected with a 0.5" X 0.75"
cross-section. The steel bar, assumed to be 1018 grade, has a 0.25" X 1.5" cross-
section. The lower left edge of the geometry is placed at (0,0).

Once the magnet is drawn, it is time to run the Open Boundary Builder wizard. The
wizard is run by clicking the toolbar with concentric rings, as shown in Figure 2:


Figure 2: Open Boundary Builder toolbar button.

When the button is pushed, the dialog shown in Figure 3 pops up.


Figure 3: Open Boundary Builder dialog.

The Layers edit box denotes the number of layers in the IABC. In general, the more
layers, the more accurate the boundary condition. The specified number of layers can be
any integer between 1 and 10. The wizard defaults to 7 layers, implying that the
boundary will exactly match the impedance of an unbounded space for up to the 7
th

spatial harmonic of the magnetic field.

The Radius, Horizontal Center, and Vertical Center describe the radius and center
of a circle that closes the domain of interest (i.e. in this case, the C-core magnet). The
program automatically computes a bounding box for all objects in the input geometry.
The program then selects the center of the bounding box as the suggested center, and
3/4 the length of the diagonal of the bounding box is suggested as the radius of the
solution region. However, these values can be user-modified if desired, simply by typing
different values in the edit boxes.

The last selection is the Edge Type drop list, from which the user can select either
Dirichlet or Neumann. The Dirichlet condition assumes that the unbounded space is
"grounded at infinity" (the potential is zero at infinity), whereas the Neumann condition
assumes that unbounded space is "insulated at infinity" (zero gradient at infinity, but not
a prescribed potential). When in doubt, simply accept the suggested edge type--a
reasonable selection is made by default.

After the button is pressed, a series of concentric rings will appear that implement the
Improvised Asymptotic Boundary Condition, as shown in Figure 4. No more boundary
conditions need be applied, and the problem is ready to solve.


Figure 4: Geometry with IABC generated by the Open Boundary Builder.

The solution is shown below as Figure 5. It can be observed that the magnetic field lines
pass the boundary of the modeled region in the same way that they would as if the
magnet were truly in unbounded space.


Figure 5: Open boundary solution via IABCs.
Programmatic Implementations

A version of the Open Boundary Builder can also be invoked from any of the
programmatic interfaces to FEMM--Lua, Mathematica, Matlab/Octave, or Scilab. The Lua
implementation is:

mi_makeABC(n,R,x,y,bc) creates a series of circular shells that emulate the impedance
of an unbounded domain (i.e. an Improvised Asymptotic Boundary Condition). The n
parameter contains the number of shells to be used (should be between 1 and 10), R is
the radius of the solution domain, and (x,y) denotes the center of the solution domain.
The bc parameter should be specified as 0 for a Dirichlet outer edge or 1 for a Neumann
outer edge. If the function is called without all the parameters, the function makes up
reasonable values for the missing parameters. For example, it is permissible to simply
call mi_makeABC() to generate an IABC boundary using default parameters.
The Matlab/Octave and Scilab functions are identical to the Lua function described
above. The Mathematica function is called MIMakeABC, in keeping with a Mathematica-
like naming convention.

Note that other problem types have analogous Open Boundary Builder functions:
ei_makeABC, hi_makeABC, and ci_makeABC for electrostatics, heat flow, and current flow
problems, respectively.
Conclusions

This example demonstrates FEMM's Open Boundary Builder wizard. If a high order IABC
is employed (as is the default in the Open Boundary Builder), accuracy rivals the Kelvin
Transformation technique. However, solution times are a bit faster than Kelvin
Transformation, because the solution domain is a bit smaller and no time is needed in
the solver to implement the periodic boundary conditions associated with the
implementation of the Kelvin Transformation.
Page History :: 2013-12-14 08:40:18 :: Owner: DavidMeeker :: Search: