Free Educational Electromagnetic Software from Field Precision

Numerical methods are increasingly important for electromagnetic research and product design. Although theory and analytic techniques form the core of introductory electromagnetic courses, it is essential that students get a balanced view of the role of computer simulations. Numerical techniques can provide high-accuracy results for complex geometries and materials properties. Field Precision developed the SATE (Static-field Analysis Toolkit - Education) package to give students an opportunity to work with an advanced 2D finite-element package. It is available for free download by students and teachers and may be used in courses and laboratories with no license fee. In contrast to other freeware packages with limited capabilities, SATE supports up to 25,000 elements for real-world calculations.

The SATE 6.2 suite includes three programs:

# Mesh: automatic generator for conformal triangular meshes.
# EStat: electrostatic fields with dielectric and space charge.
# PerMag: magnetostatic fields with drive currents, iron and permanent magnets.

EStat and PerMag programs generate solutions for both cylindrical and planar systems.

Mesh creates conformal triangular meshes for any user-specified geometry. The term conformal means that the solution volume is divided into a set of individually-shaped triangles that closely follow material boundaries (even with slanted or curved surfaces). The approach gives high-accuracy field solutions with short run times. The program also supports variable element resolution for enhanced accuracy in critical regions. Mesh includes a powerful, integrated drawing editor to define geometries graphically. The program also imports drawings in DXF format from AutoCAD and other drafting programs. The user can make detailed inspections of the mesh or change the properties of individual elements and vertices.

EStat is a comprehensive tool for electrostatic solutions. The program handles arbitrary geometries with multiple regions of dielectric or conductive materials. The program supports anisotropic materials. Advanced capabilities include automatic calculation of field energy, peak field and capacitance. In addition, spatial variations of dielectric constant, conductivity and space-charge density may be defined from mathematical functions.

Permag is a solution package for the design of static-field electromagnets and permanent magnet devices. Permanent magnets, coils and ferromagnetic materials may be combined in a run. With its open data structure, the program handles all permanent magnet materials, including nonlinear types like Alnico. A concise users' manual reviews magnetostatic theory with anisotropic materials and numerical methods for field solutions. Analysis capabilities include automatic determination of field energy, forces and induced current for inductance calculations.

EStat and PerMag include the following features:

# Library of material specifications and practical application examples on disk.
# Interactive point-and- click analysis of solutions. Option to record results from an analysis session.
# Extensive plot options include equipotential contours, three-dimensional potential plots, and color-coded element plots of field magnitude.
# Publication-quality hardcopy with support for all Windows print devices.
# Command line operation for batch file control.erations.
# Advanced solution techniques to resolve microscopic details in large structures.
# Formatted text output files make it easy to transfer information to user applications or to mathematical analysis programs.
# Easy-to-understand instruction manual with walkthrough examples.