3D Magnetic Field Modeling

ABSTRACT: We propose to employ a novel Boundary Element Method (BEM) numerical technique, demonstrated during Phase I, to develop a parallel computer code that will allow simultaneous solution, in three dimensions (3-D), of the vacuum magnetic vector potential and magnetic field structure for complex geometries. The primary advantages of the chosen approach are the reduction of the dimensionality of the problem from three to two dimensions, and the avoidance of wasteful computation of fields and potentials away from conductor surfaces of interest. The resulting code can either be employed stand-alone, for design purposes, or in combination with existing magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) or static magnetic diffusion codes based on finite-difference, finite-volume, finite-element, or even time-domain BEM techniques. BENEFIT: The benefits and applications of successful development of a 3-D code for magnetic fields and potentials are too numerous to catalog. However, of immediate utility will be more successful designs of high-current, high-power pulsed power devices and systems for directed energy and advanced energy applications. The resulting code will also be useful for a wide range of commercial applications that use magnetic fields, such as the recording industry, the medical community for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton cancer therapy, magnetic levitation for the transportation industry, accelerators for beam guidance systems, and university research.