Software for generating magnetic field within iron

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the design of a magnetized iron calorimeter detector for high-energy physics experiments, specifically focusing on generating and calculating the magnetic field components within iron using software tools. The participants explore various software options for performing these calculations, considering both commercial and free alternatives.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Experimental/applied

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks software to calculate magnetic field components (Bx, By, Bz) at specified points within a detector, emphasizing a need for a tabulated output.
  • Another participant suggests that while Mathematica can be used for these calculations, it may be challenging for someone not well-versed in the theory of magnetic fields to formulate the problem correctly.
  • Several software options are proposed, including commercial products and free alternatives, with a note on the potentially high costs of some commercial software.
  • A question is raised about whether the problem is 2D or 3D, highlighting a possible ambiguity in the original request.
  • Free software options such as Elmer, FEMM (2D), and Agros (2D) are mentioned, with one participant sharing their positive experience with Agros.
  • The original poster acknowledges their understanding of electromagnetic theory but expresses concern about the tediousness of using Mathematica and shows interest in the suggested free software.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the potential use of various software tools for the calculations, but there is no consensus on the best approach or the suitability of Mathematica for someone less familiar with the subject.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes uncertainties regarding the dimensionality of the problem (2D vs. 3D) and the specific requirements for the magnetic field calculations, which may affect the choice of software.

neelakash
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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.
 
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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?
 
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.
 
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.
 

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