Meshed coils (2D/3D)

Representation of a meshed coil in 2D

In a 2D application, a coil is represented by one surface region or by a group of surface regions of the coil conductor type.

By convention, the current is:

  • positive, when it goes out the screen

  • negative, when it goes into the screen

It is possible to modify the direction of the current by using the Orientation command.

Examples (2D)

Examples of coil representation for axisymmetric 2D and plane 2D studies are shown below.

Study Real device Finite elements domain

2D axisymmetric study:

a circular coil is represented by a single region.

2D plane study:

a rectangular coil is represented by two regions:

  • one for the in section
  • the other for the out section

The model does not involve the forward and the backward parts of the coil.

Representation of a meshed coil in 3D

In a 3D application, a coil is represented by a group of volume regions of the coil conductor type.

Examples (3D)

Two examples of coil representation are presented below.

“Open” coil “Closed” coil

Geometric restrictions (3D)

Flux is unable to model all coil shapes.

The main rules to be observed are the following:

  • generally, the changes of the section are allowed
  • for open coils, the changes of the section are allowed, but the entering and the exiting faces of the current should have the same shape
  • “parasite”points and lines are not allowed

A “parasite” point or line is a useless supplementary geometric entity (point or line), as presented in the right side figure (in bold)

Note: For a more complete discussion on the geometrical restrictions of 3D meshed coils, please refer to the following documentation page: Solving options and methods for estimating the current density in 3D coil conductor regions.

Current orientation (3D)

The current orientation is set by:

  • the entering and exiting faces of the current, for the open coils, and
  • an orientation line for the closed coils
Note: For a more complete discussion on the current orientation of 3D meshed coils, please refer to the following documentation page: Current orientation of coil conductor regions in Flux 3D.

Meshed coils and symmetries/ periodicities

In the presence of symmetries and/or periodicities, only the coils (or parts of coils) presented in the study domain are described. The coils (or parts of coils) symmetric and/or periodic are taken into account by means of the boundary conditions on the symmetry and/or periodicity planes.

Note: For a more complete discussion on symmeries and periodicities affecting meshed coils, please refer to the following documentation page: Coil entities in symmetrical or periodical domains.