Discussion Forum

Hi,

I am new to the forum. I am an engineering designer and I work for myself at www.thebigconsultant.com

I am trying to set up a FEA test using COMSOL software.

I have a trial version, and I wish to complete a simple test using the software, which will help me to discover if this can save time and money on testing.

I am also about to order a test jig to do the same job as described. So I will be able to test the effectiveness of COMSOL.

What I want to do, is to set up two 5mm diameter x 1mm thick rod magnets facing each other and 14mm apart; then take measurements of the "Magnetic Field Flux" in various distances between them.

Once this is done, I would like to then plot a "Parametric Sweep", showing the effect of the same test but with (a) a pair of 3mm diameter magnets, and then (b) using a pair of 4mm magnets.

The second test I would like to do, is to vary the strength of one magnet by say 0.5% and 1% and to see how much this effects the null point between the field boundaries.

If possible, I would also like to do a similar test. But this time moving the probe that reads the field flux +/- 5mm longitudinally and at a fixed and equal distance from the faces of both magnets, to see what the result is.

This work is for use on a new product that I am working on, and I will be waiting at least a week or more for a test jig, that would give me the same result, and would be quite expensive. I am hoping to see if this can be done more quickly and perhaps accurately.

Can anyone advise me how to get started? I know that I need to use the AC/DC solver, and I have read through the small introductory manual that came with the demo disk (which is quite good), but it does not cover anything electromagnetic.

I do have SolidWorks, so I also would like to import the magnets. But I must admit that I do not know really where to start.

Would I be best to activate the SolidWorks "LiveLink" and how do I do this. Also I have found the paper www.uk.comsol.com/showroom/gallery/213/ which is for a "One Sided Magnet", which appears to be the closest thing that I can find to what I am doing? ... I am guessing that I can perhaps follow the instructions for this, and maybe change the values to suit what I am trying to achieve?

Am I along the right lines? ... Attached is a file with the Jig that I have designed to undertake the same job (as PDF)