Is this solenoid / permanent magnet configuration possible?

[JayAshby]

TL;DR

Hi, I was wondering if it would work to have permanent magnets placed around the middle of a solenoid, which can act as a buffer between the north and south poles of the solenoid. I have drawn what I think the field will look like in blue. Would this have any impact on the strength of the solenoid's magnetic field? Thanks.

 

[berkeman]

How is this different from your previous thread start?

TL;DR Summary: Hi, I've been working on a solenoid design and was wondering if I have this configuration, how would the strength of the solenoid (specifically the south pole) be affected by the permanent magnet? Would it potentially gain strength, or would it result in a loss? Assume minimal distance between magnet and solenoid.

View attachment 337870

 

[Dale]

You certainly could place permanent magnets in that arrangement. But I don’t know what “act as a buffer between the north and south poles of the solenoid” would even mean.

If you have two sources, each with their own field, then the total field from both sources together is the sum of the fields from each source individually.

 

[JayAshby]

How is this different from your previous thread start?

You certainly could place permanent magnets in that arrangement. But I don’t know what “act as a buffer between the north and south poles of the solenoid” would even mean.

If you have two sources, each with their own field, then the total field from both sources together is the sum of the fields from each source individually.

Hi Dale, thanks for the reply. By buffer I mean that the magnet field of the solenoid would be joined with the permanent magnets. Essentially, the magnetic field lines leaving the north end of the solenoid would then join the south end of the magnets instead of the south end of the solenoid. And the magnetic field lines leaving the north ends of the magnets would join with the south end of the solenoid. If this were the case, I'm unsure how it would affect the strength of the north and south poles of the solenoid.

 

[Dale]

To get the total field you would add the fields together. That would make the field lines more complicated. I guess some lines would go from the solenoid to the permanent magnets, but not all of them. The field would be at least quadrupole instead of dipole.

 

[JayAshby]

Interesting, thank you for your insight Dale.