Solution of three-dimensional, anisotropic, nonlinear problems of magnetostatics using two scalar potentials, finite and infinite multipolar elements and automatic mesh generation

Abstract

The two-scalar potentials idea has been used with success for the computation of static magnetic fields in the presence of nonlinear isotropic magnetic materials by the finite element method. In this communication we formulate the two-scalar-potentials method for anisotropic materials and present a computer program and the solution of an example problem. The use of infinite multipolar elements is also discussed. Several advanced methods and ideas are employed by the program: scalar potentials, rather than vector potentials, giving only one unknown quantity; the finite element method, in which the solution is approximated by a continuous function; the Galerkin method to solve the differential equations; accurate infinite elements, which avoid the introduction of an artificial boundary for unbounded problems; automatic mesh generation,which means that the user can construct a large mesh and represent a complicated geometry with little effort; automatic elimination of nodes outside the iron, which restricts the iterations to the nonlinear anisotropic region with economy of computer time; use of sparse matrix technology, which represents a further economy in computer time when assembling the linear equations and solving them by either Gauss elimination or iterative techniques such as the conjugated gradient method, etc. The combination of these techniques is very convenient.