Dear Simulia Community,
I couldn't find any discussions in this Simulia Community related to CST's Opera3D EM FEM package. So, either I'm in the wrong place, or there are no active Opera3D users or discussions here anymore. Either way, I’ll give it a try and post my question. Apologies in advance if this isn’t the right forum! 😉
I have simulated an H-type dipole with a symmetrical racetrack coil configuration in Opera3D. The coil is supported by multiple stainless steel brackets on both magnet halves. My goal is to determine the magnetic force acting on these brackets.
Since stainless steel is non-magnetic, I assumed the best approach would be to compute the Lorentz force in the conductor, which would provide insight into the total magnetic pull force between the coil halves. I then planned to distribute this force across the number of brackets to estimate the load per bracket.
Opera3D has provided a list of forces on all coil segments as well as the total force components in the x, y, and z directions. My questions are:
- Does the total force reported by Opera3D represent the net force between the upper and lower coils, and should I expect symmetry (i.e., Fy = -Fy) given that the coils are positioned symmetrically?
- Does this approach make sense for estimating the force on the brackets, or is there a more appropriate method to deal with this problem?
- If I introduce a realistic misalignment of let's say ±1 mm in coil positioning, how can I determine the resulting net force and its impact on the brackets?
I would appreciate any insights or alternative suggestions for addressing this problem.
Best,
Ender
