Coupling Maxwell Magnetostatic and Eddy Current Designs with Ansys Fluent

Coupling is supported between Ansys Fluent and Maxwell 3D magnetostatic and eddy current designs. For example, a transient Fluent simulation can use a Maxwell solution to simulate the magnetic effect of the electric arc of contacts. This coupling supports designs that have a datalink defined, such as mesh, demagnetization, and so on. A design that is enabled for thermal and stress feedback is not supported.

In Ansys Fluent, during a transient simulation that requires exchanging data with Maxwell, a user-defined function (UDF) invokes the Maxwell solver. Ansys Fluent and Maxwell exchange inputs and solution data in a coupling directory that you specify. Maxwell calculates the B field based on the mesh-based conductivity (and meshed-based permeability in eddy current designs); and current excitation provided by Ansys Fluent. Ansys Fluent calculates flow field, temperature, and feedback electrical conductivity (and permeability in eddy current designs) to Maxwell. The Maxwell software does not provide direct access to the data in this coupling directory.

Follow these steps to set up the coupling:

  1. Set up the magnetostatic or eddy current project in Maxwell 3D.
  2. In the Project Manager tree, right-click Setup under Analysis and select Configure Fluent Conductivity Coupling.
  3. In the Configure Fluent Conductivity Coupling window, browse to select the coupling directory or type a path, and click OK. You can enter a local directory, such as where Maxwell desktop is running, or you can enter a mapped network location.
    • If you enter an existing directory that contains files, a warning notifies you that all files in that directory will be permanently deleted. Click Yes to use that directory and delete all files contained in it. Click No if you do not want to select that directory. When you click No, the dialog box stays open for you to enter a different directory.
    • If the directory you entered does not exist, Maxwell creates the directory. If the directory is not successfully created, the dialog remains open.
    Note:  
    • If there are errors during the process or if you terminate the process, the coupling directory is not configured.
    • If there is version incompatibility between Ansys Fluent and Maxwell, the process is stopped and an error message is displayed.
    • If you Clean Stop the process and there is enough solution data to configure the directory, the coupling directory will still be configured.
  4. Set up the Ansys Fluent project as described in the Ansys Fluent User’s Guide.
  5. Build and load the UDF that was developed for your application. For more information about UDFs, see the Ansys Fluent UDF Manual.
  6. In the input.txt file that is specific to the UDF, provide the information that is required by the UDF. For more information about the required information and format, see Sample Input.txt File Format.

The UDF is invoked during the transient simulation. When there is a need to exchange data, the UDF invokes the Maxwell solver.

Related Topics 

System Coupling: Electrical Arc Simulation

Sample Input.txt File Format