Maxwell 2D Technical Notes
The Ansys Maxwell® 2D application is an interactive software package that uses the finite element method (FEM) analysis to simulate and solve two-dimensional electromagnetic field problems. The Maxwell application integrates with other Ansys software to perform complex tasks while remaining easy to use.
The Maxwell 2D application is used for analyzing electric and magnetic fields in structures with uniform cross-sections or full rotational symmetry — where the field patterns in the entire device can be analyzed by modeling the field patterns in its cross-section.
In general, 2D modeling of electromagnetic fields solves for the fields in a 2D cross-section of a device which is considered to be placed far away from the extremities of the devices, thus ignoring end effects. While it can provide excellent accuracy for all applicable modeling tasks, 2D solution sequences cannot be always used to accurately model electromagnetic devices. Devices where end effects are significant or that may not exhibit complete rotational symmetry must be modeled in 3D for greatest accuracy.
These technical notes contain background information on the theory behind the Maxwell module, including
- A list of all Maxwell software modules
- Discussion of background theory; capacitance, inductance, impedance, conductance, and admittance matrices; virtual force and torque; flux linkage; and current flow for the following field solvers:
- Electrostatic
- Magnetostatic
- AC Magnetic
- DC conduction
- AC conduction
- Transient
- The differences between field solutions in Cartesian (XY) and axisymmetric (RZ) models
- An overview of the phasor notation used in this guide to represent complex field quantities