Cobham Technical Services

A powerful new version of the Opera electromagnetics simulator for design engineers has been released by Cobham Technical Services. The latest software adds three-dimensional mechanical stress analysis, extending the tool's multiphysics capability to provide a single-step solution to complex design problems. By capturing mechanical deformation in conjunction with electromagnetic and thermal modelling, the integrated software can greatly reduce design complexity and timescales.

Cobham Technical Services has been awarded a contract for its powerful Opera electromagnetic design tool by Siemens Wind Power, a leading supplier of wind turbines for onshore, offshore and coastal sites. Fast and accurate electromagnetic simulation helps wind turbine suppliers to make breakthroughs in wind turbine design. The Siemens design team employs the Opera electromagnetic simulator from the Vector Fields Software product line of Cobham Technical Services to help it develop new generator concepts, and often runs thousands of simulations within a few hours to discover the best design solution for applications.

Cobham Technical Services’ Opera 3D electromagnetic field simulator is playing a vital role in the design of an innovative hybrid magnet being developed by the USA’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Opera motor design software package is helping Air Bearings of Poole to extend the speed of spindle motors beyond 400,000 RPM. The package's integrated electromagnetic and thermal simulators are being used to identify optimisations that will make the motors more compact and efficient, to improve rotational speeds beyond their current maximum.

The superconducting wire producer Sumitomo Electric, and the electromagnetic simulation expert Cobham Technical Services, have joined forces to offer an advanced solution for the design of electrical machines and power equipment.

Lightning strike tests of a helicopter at Eurocopter's Donauwörth facility have verified the accuracy of finite element analysis techniques for characterising the electromagnetic behaviour of complete and custom-cabled modern aircraft structures constructed using advanced composite materials.

At CWIEME, Cobham Technical Services is releasing a new version of its Vector Fields Software tool for designing rotating electrical machinery. The electromagnetic simulation software combines the accuracy of virtual prototyping using finite-element analysis with a rapid front-end design tool that allows users to create models of motors and generators in minutes — allowing users to achieve radical new levels of development productivity.