How can I draw a helical coil in Maxwell 3D v11 without getting an error?

[shasi]

Hello Everyone,

I'm a new user to both PF & Maxwell 3D. I've been having a lot of problems trying to draw a helical coil in Maxwell 3D v11.

There is a 'CreateHelix' function in Maxwell 3D & when I use this function (which has to be drawn on a 2D object), I get this error: [error] Body could not be created for part because of invalid parameters to CreateHelix operation. (3:30 PM Apr 03, 2009)

I've tried it with different shapes to draw the helix upon, but it still keeps giving me the error.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!

-Shasi

 

[kevin1]

Make sure that the 2D cross section does not intersect the helix when it is swept across the spiral. For example if the 2D object is a circlular disk centered at the origin(0,0,0) and you want to sweep it across a spiral along the Y-direction you get self-intersection. You must move the disk to the point(r,0,0) before generating the helix where r is the radius of the helix.

 

[shasi]

Make sure that the 2D cross section does not intersect the helix when it is swept across the spiral. For example if the 2D object is a circlular disk centered at the origin(0,0,0) and you want to sweep it across a spiral along the Y-direction you get self-intersection. You must move the disk to the point(r,0,0) before generating the helix where r is the radius of the helix.

I tried to draw the helix like this:

Draw a circle with center (0,0,0) and radius of 6mm on the XY plane.
Next, I selected the helix & tried to draw it with center (0,0,0) and wanted to draw it through the Z axis with pitch 1mm & 3 turns. But I still get the same error as I did before.
Is there any step-by-step instructions that I can follow?

Thanks,
Shasi

 

[kevin1]

Shasi:

If you want to draw the helix around the Z-axis, the circle of radis 6mm must be either in the XZ plane or YZ plane. Remember that this circle will be swept along a spiral along the Z-axis. Next you have to move your circle to (r,0,0) if the circle is in the XZ plane or to ((0,r,0) if it is in the YZ plane where r is the radius of the helix. So try this:

1. Create a circle of radius 6mm in the XZ plane
2. Move the circle to the point (30,0,0) where 30 is the radius of your helix
3. Pick the Z-axis as axis of the the helix by specifying (0,0,0) as the starting point and (0,0,1) as the ending point for the axis of rorartion
4. Select the moved circle and in the DRaw menu click Helix
5. Enter the number of turns and the pitch



Hopefully, this should work.