Software for generating magnetic field within iron

[neelakash]

Dear All,
I need to design a magnetized iron calorimeter detector (HEP ex). There will be current coils (in the vertical plane) that will generate x-y magnetic field within iron. Given the detector boundaries and exact locations of the coils (i.e. all the B.C.s), I need to obtain the components
of the magnetic field at (x, y) points in the detector. The points should be close eneough ~1 cm,
say. I am not interested in fringe fields just outside iron. It will be nice if the o/p can be found
as a table like the following:

x y z | Bx By Bz
............
<meter> | <tesla>
......|........
3.7 | 8.6 | 10 | 1.50 | 0.1 | 0.08
3.7 | 8.7 | 10 | 1.51 | 0.1 | 0.09
... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can anyone please suggest some software or program to perform this? I have institutional access to Mathematica, but I do not know if it could be used to do this. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Bill Simpson]

If you know the theory behind magnetic fields and just need the tedious calculations done then you can often coax and nudge and beg and plead and try to get Mathematica to do the calculations. If you don't already know the subject well then it is very questionable whether you can figure out how to form the question and how to tell whether the results of the calculations are correct.

Or you could try http://www.integratedsoft.com/Products/Amperes
Or you could try http://www.infolytica.com/en%5Cproducts/magnet/
Or you could try http://www.arnoldmagnetics.com/Content1.aspx?id=4868
Or you could try http://www.scientificsoftware-solutions.com/product.php?productid=17694
but I suspect the prices on some of those may be stunning. I remember some simulation software that I used 25 years ago and the price was $15,000 per seat. Some of the above may be different.

Is there any chance you could approach some prof at a local university who might point you towards an appropriate resource to use?

 

[gsal]

Is this a 2D problem? or a 3D? At first, it sounded like 2D, but then you list z...

There are at least three free pieces of software that I know of that do electromagnetics http://www.csc.fi/english/pages/elmer/index_html,
femm (only 2D), and
Agros 2D.

I have experimented with the first one and the last one, above; the last one is very easy to use.

 

[neelakash]

Dear All,
thanks for your replies. Yes, I have learned EM theory and understand that one can uses Mathematica for generating the data. But that would be really tedious. I shall try to use the free softwares suggested by gsal. In fact, the detector will have extremely small Bz component. So,
for practical purposes it is fine if I can extract (Bx, By). Thanks to both of you again.

 

[alphy]

Dear researcher,

Thank you for reaching out with your inquiry about software for generating a magnetic field within iron. This is a common task in the field of high energy physics, and there are several software options available to assist with this type of calculation.

One popular software for this purpose is called ANSYS Maxwell, which is specifically designed for electromagnetic simulations. It allows for accurate modeling of magnetic fields within complex geometries, such as your iron calorimeter detector. It also has the ability to export data in a tabulated format, similar to the table you have provided in your message.

Another option is Comsol Multiphysics, which also has capabilities for simulating magnetic fields and exporting data in tabulated form. It also has a user-friendly interface and can handle complex geometries.

In addition to these commercial software options, there are also open-source options such as OpenFOAM and Elmer FEM, which have electromagnetic modules and can be used for similar calculations.

As for Mathematica, it may also have some capabilities for electromagnetic simulations, but it is not specifically designed for this purpose. I would recommend checking with your institution to see if they have any licenses for the software options mentioned above, or if they have any other recommendations for software that may be suitable for your needs.

I hope this information helps you in your research. Best of luck with your project.

Sincerely,