The Maxwell Desktop

The following graphic shows the different sections of the Maxwell desktop:

General Procedure for Setting Up Maxwell Designs

You are not required to follow a specific order when setting up your Maxwell design. However, the following order is recommended, particularly for new users:

  1. Open Ansys Electronics Desktop by double-clicking the desktop icon or by clicking Start > Programs > Ansys EM Suite [version] > Ansys Electronics Desktop [version] from the Windows taskbar.
  2. Add a Maxwell 3D design and save the new project.
  3. Draw the geometry of the model.
  4. Optionally, modify the model's design parameters.
  5. Assign variables to design parameters.
  6. Assign excitations and boundary conditions.
  7. Specify solution settings.
  8. Run a Maxwell simulation.
  9. Create post-processing plots.
  10. Create a parametric analysis.
  11. Create a field animation of the parametric analysis results.
  12. Include motion in the transient design.

About the Example Design

The application described in this Getting Started guide is an extension of the design created in Getting Started with Maxwell: Designing a Rotational Actuator. The geometry is shown below:

The outer part is a nonlinear, ferromagnetic armature carrying two coils. The inner part is made of the same nonlinear material and can rotate around an axis. The inner and outer parts of the device are coaxial.

The field distribution will likely cause the flux density to concentrate in the two steel armatures in the regions where the distance between them is minimal. The expected edge effect will then further increase the field concentration.

In this example, we will compute the torque acting on the inner armature and the flux linkage of the two coils. Simulation results show a 3D electromagnetic time-transient problem with the effects of large motion included. Both the rotor and stator are made of solid ferromagnetic steel, creating significant eddy current effects. A nonlinear B-H curve is considered for the stator and rotor steel. The solution includes the estimated mechanical rotor inertia. For a presentation of the results and the corresponding FEM code, see the IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol 38, No. 2, March 2002, pp 609-612.