Simcenter™ MAGNET™

Getting Started Guide

Software Version 2212
December 2022
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Table of Contents
Welcome ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Learning Simcenter MAGNET .................................................................................................... 5
Additional information ........................................................................................................... 5
Introduction to model building ................................................................................................. 7
Modeling flowchart ................................................................................................................... 7
Geometric modeling ................................................................................................................... 8
Edges.......................................................................................................................................... 8
Surfaces ................................................................................................................................... 9
Components .................................................................................................................................... 9
Drawing edges ........................................................................................................................... 10
Lines ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Using the mouse pointer .................................................................................................. 10
Using the Keyboard Input bar ........................................................................................ 10
Arcs ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Using the mouse pointer to draw an arc ................................................................... 11
Using the Keyboard Input bar to draw an arc ........................................................ 11
Circles ....................................................................................................................................... 12
Using the mouse pointer to draw a circle ............................................................... 12
Using the Keyboard Input bar to draw a circle .................................................... 12
Segmenting edges ..................................................................................................................... 13
Snap modes .................................................................................................................................. 13
Creating surfaces ................................................................................................................... 14
Construction slice surfaces .......................................................................................... 14
Moving edges with the construction slice ............................................................... 14
Component surfaces............................................................................................................. 14
Extracting edges ................................................................................................................. 14
Creating components ............................................................................................................... 15
Default sweep direction .................................................................................................. 15
Creating multiple components simultaneously ........................................................ 15
Changing component properties...................................................................................... 16
Modifying component edges (chamfer or fillet) .................................................... 16
Creating components using the CSG Modeling technique ...................................... 17
Selecting edges, surfaces, and components ................................................................. 18
Selection box ....................................................................................................................... 18
Positioning the construction slice ................................................................................ 19
Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Boundary conditions ...................................................................................................................... 21
Finite element mesh ...................................................................................................................... 22
Adaption ...................................................................................................................................... 22
Solving the model .......................................................................................................................... 23
Welcome
Simcenter™ MAGNET™ software provides state-of-the art visualization to help you easily
build 2D and 3D models for magnetostatic, time-harmonic, transient or transient with motion
analysis. Siemens’s leading edge technologies transparently generate the finite element mesh
and quickly provide accurate field solutions.

The structures which can be simulated with Simcenter MAGNET include:

 Machines: DC, universal, 3-phase IM

 Actuators
 Solenoids
 Loudspeakers
 Transformers
 Sensors
 Recording heads

Learning Simcenter MAGNET

Your Simcenter MAGNET documentation package consist of this Getting Started Guide and a
set of Tutorials in an electronic media format (i.e. PDF files), and also includes a
comprehensive Help system.

Getting Started Guide Tutorials

 Installation instructions  Magnetostatic, Time-harmonic, and

(please refer to Simcenter Transient 2D and 3D tutorials
MAGNET_*_install.pdf)
 Introduction to modeling

Additional information
More information on the procedures and concepts of model building with Simcenter MAGNET
is found in the Help included with each package.

Note The Simcenter MAGNET Help menu provides easy access to the PDF versions of
this Getting Started Guide and the Tutorials.

Additional help is available by visiting the Siemens Support website:

https://support.sw.siemens.com/en-US/product/1067459531

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Introduction to model building
A Simcenter MAGNET model is made from a geometric model to which boundary conditions
and excitations are assigned. After the model is solved, field plots and numerical results are
available for viewing. The finite element mesh of the model can be customized to increase
solution accuracy.

Modeling flowchart

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Geometric modeling
A Simcenter MAGNET model is made from geometry to which materials, boundary conditions,
and excitations are assigned.

The geometric model is constructed from three basic building blocks:

 Edges
 Surfaces
 Components

Edges
Edges are lines and arcs. They are drawn on the construction slice in the View window.

The construction slice is a two-dimensional editing plane that can be moved forward and
backward in space. Edges drawn on the construction slice move with the slice and remain in
view until they are intentionally removed by the user.

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Surfaces
Edges are drawn to create surfaces. Surfaces are swept to create three-dimensional
components. A surface must be “closed” before it can be swept to create a component.

Components
Components can be swept in a positive or negative direction:

 For an arbitrary length

 In a circular arc through any angle

By drawing and sweeping surfaces, additional components are added to form an entire model.

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Drawing edges
Edges are drawn using the Draw toolbar and either the mouse pointer or the Keyboard Input
bar. You can draw lines, arcs, or circles.

Edges are drawn on the construction slice.

Note Edges are saved with the model even if the user has not swept the geometry
before closing.

Lines

Using the mouse pointer

Lines are drawn as polylines. That is, line drawing is continuous until you press ESC or
double-click the mouse.

Using the Keyboard Input bar

Lines are entered as coordinate PAIRS. The last coordinate PAIR entered becomes the start
coordinate PAIR of the next line. To stop drawing, or to begin a new line, press ESC on your
keyboard.

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Arcs
Note When drawing an arc using the mouse
pointer or keyboard, Simcenter MAGNET
automatically adjusts the end point to have the
same radius from the center point as does the
start point. Note

Using the mouse pointer to draw an arc

Three different methods exist, when using the mouse pointer, for drawing arcs in Simcenter
MAGNET.

 Arc (Center, Start, End)

 Arc (Start, Center, End)
 Arc (Start, End, Center)
Note Arcs are drawn in a counter-clockwise direction.

Holding the Ctrl key down, while drawing the arc, inverts the direction of the arc.
The arc is still created counter-clockwise; it is only the start and end points that
are inverted.

A “rubber-band” line follows the movement of the mouse pointer.

Using the Keyboard Input bar to draw an arc

Arcs are drawn by entering three coordinates, in the order that corresponds to one of the three
chosen methods (see above for reference):

 Center point, Start point, End point

 Start point, Center point, End point
 Start point, End point, Center point

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Circles
Note
After a circle is drawn,
Simcenter MAGNET
automatically segments
the circle into two arcs.

Using the mouse pointer to draw a circle

Two different methods exist, when using the mouse pointer, for drawing circles in Simcenter
MAGNET.

 Circle (Center, Radius)

 Circle (Radius, Center)

Note A “rubber-band” line follows the movement of the mouse pointer.

Using the Keyboard Input bar to draw a circle

Circles are drawn by entering two coordinates, in the order that corresponds to one of the two
chosen methods (see above for reference):

 Center point, Point on the radius of the circle

 Point on the radius of the circle, Center point

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Segmenting edges
Edges are not automatically segmented at the point of intersection with other edges. Only
when the user has selected the specific edges, and then clicked Segment Edges on the Model
menu, do the lines segment.

Snap modes
The snap modes control the location of entry points made with the mouse pointer. There are
seven snap modes: Grid, Endpoint, Intersection, Nearest, Center, Tangent, and
Perpendicular.

None Points appear exactly where the mouse pointer clicks in the display.

Grid Snaps to the nearest grid point.

Endpoint Snaps to the nearest endpoint of existing edges.

Intersection Snaps to the nearest endpoint of existing edges or the intersection

between existing edges.

Nearest Snaps to the nearest point on existing edges – any point.

Center Snaps to the nearest existing arc center.

Tangent Snaps to the nearest point on Construction Slice, where edge being
drawn becomes tangent.

Perpendicular Snaps to the nearest point on Construction Slice, where edge being
drawn becomes perpendicular.

Note Tangent and Perpendicular snap modes behave like None for the first point of an
edge because a point alone cannot be tangent or perpendicular.

A line being drawn may also become tangent or perpendicular at its first point, if
this point resides anywhere on an existing edge. Hence, using Endpoint for the
first point, and Tangent or Perpendicular for the second point, allows prolonging
an existing line or drawing a line perpendicular to it.

The snap mode stays in effect until a new snap mode is selected. Select None
from the Draw menu to turn off the snap mode.

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Creating surfaces
Surfaces are the basis of 3D components. Surfaces are 2D regions formed by:
 Edges drawn on the construction slice
 2D faces of 3D components

Construction slice surfaces

Surfaces drawn on the construction slice must be “closed” before they can be selected.

After a surface has been made into a component, the edges of the surface are duplicated in
the component. The original edges remain on the construction slice.

Note To remove the construction slice edges, select all of the edges and
then click Delete on the Edit menu.

Moving edges with the construction slice

Edges can only exist on the construction slice. If the construction slice is repositioned, all
edges move with the construction slice. For example, in the diagram below, the construction
slice, with edges, has been moved 2 meters in the positive Z direction.

Note Edges on the construction slice are saved with the model.

Component surfaces
Components can also be created from the 2D surfaces of other components.

Extracting edges
After a surface has been made into a component, the edges of the surface are duplicated in
the component. You can copy the edges of a component’s surface to the construction slice
using the Extract Edges command.

Note The construction slice must intersect the surface.

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Creating components
Components are created from surfaces (see “Creating surfaces” on page 9) or using the CSG
Modeling technique (see page 12). Components can be swept in either a linear or rotational
direction.

Note When using the Extrusion modeler, all the components of the model, except for
coil components, must be swept in the same linear or rotational direction.

Default sweep direction

The default sweep direction for a component is positive (sweeping out of the construction slice
or out from the surface of a component).

Creating multiple components simultaneously

More than one surface can be selected to create a component.

Note When multiple components are created simultaneously, all components share the
same material and sweep distance. You can later change the properties of any
component in the Component property and parameter pages.
In the C-core model below, three surfaces exist. One surface is for the permanent magnet,
and the other two surfaces form the C-core. You can sweep all three surfaces at the same
time. To select all three surfaces, hold down the SHIFT key while selecting each surface. After
all the surfaces are selected, you can use the Make Component tool.

Tip When you press SHIFT or CTRL as you select objects, every object you click on
remains selected. Pressing CTRL as you select objects also enables you to click
on an object a second time to de-select the object.

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Changing component properties
The properties of a component are changed in the Component Properties dialog, which
consists of six pages (General, Sweep, Mesh, Mesh Layers, Material, and Parameters).

You can change the following properties:

 Name  Curvature Refinement angle

 Polynomial order (3D models only)  Mesh Layer type (Uniform,
 Initial Temperature Logarithmic, User-defined)
 Enable/Disable the component  Parameters for:
 Sweep distance  Position of the starting surface of
 Material the component
 Material direction  Geometric position
 Maximum element size  Angle of the start and end
 Curvature Refinement minimum surfaces (3D models only)
element size  etc.
Modifying component edges (chamfer or fillet)
This feature allows you to modify your model at the component level by selecting an edge, or
edges, and transforming them to a chamfer or rounded edge.

Selected edge Chamfered Chamfered Filleted edge

symmetric edge asymmetric edge

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Creating components using the CSG Modeling technique
Various shapes and forms can easily be created using a modeling technique known as
Constructive Solid Geometry, or CSG.

Sphere

Rectangular
Block

Cylinder

Cone

Torus

Prism

Pyramid

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Selecting edges, surfaces, and components
Objects are selected with the mouse pointer using one of the selection tools on the Edit menu
or Selection toolbar, or by creating a selection box.

An object must be selected before a property or action can be applied to it. For example, a
construction slice surface must be selected before it can be made into a component. The
object is highlighted when it is selected.

Selection box
You can draw a selection box to highlight several objects at once. A selection box is also
useful to highlight only certain items. For example, to find all the available edges on the
construction slice, you can draw a selection box (using the select Construction Slice Edges
selection tool) to highlight the edges.

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Positioning the construction slice
The construction slice is a two-dimensional editing plane in the View window that can be
moved forward and backward in space.

The initial position of the construction slice is in the XY plane of the global XYZ coordinate
system. The slice is first located at Z=0. The construction slice can be moved forward and
backward using the Move Construction Slice dialog box. This dialog is accessed from either
the Draw toolbar or the Draw menu.

The construction slice can also be moved to a selected surface of a component.

When a component is swept, the start surface of the component begins on the construction
slice. The end surface of the component is determined by the sweep distance set in the
Make Component dialog.

Note The construction slice does not move when the component is swept.

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Materials
Materials are added to the component during the sweeping process.

 The Model Materials library lists all materials assigned to the device.
 The User Defined Materials library contains material that you have created or
modified.
 The Materials page contains hundreds of pre-defined materials (sorted by database)
that can be applied to the model, including magnetic steels, and ceramic and rare
earth permanent magnet materials. Each material can be assigned to several
categories.
Note Any of these pre-defined materials can be modified to make a user-defined
material; you must first copy the pre-defined material to the User-defined
materials library and then make the appropriate changes in the Material Property
dialog.

The contents of the material library are shown in the Material page of the Project bar.

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Boundary conditions
Boundary conditions define the behavior of the magnetic field at the boundaries of the
model. Boundary conditions are applied to surfaces of the model, or to surfaces of an air box
that represents an artificial outer boundary that surrounds the model. Conditions of symmetry
can also be represented by using the appropriate boundary condition.

Simcenter MAGNET provides six boundary conditions:

Field Normal: Constrains to zero the tangential component of the field. The field is made
normal (perpendicular) to the boundary.

Flux Tangential: Constrains to zero the normal component of the magnetic flux density. The
flux is made to flow tangential to (alongside) the boundary. The Flux Tangential boundary
condition is applied by default to all surfaces of the model that are not assigned the Flux
Tangential boundary condition.

Even Periodic: If symmetry conditions exist, you can use the Even Periodic boundary
condition to model sections of linear or rotary machines that have an even number of poles.
The mesh nodes on one plane of symmetry are related to the mesh nodes on the other side.

Odd Periodic: If symmetry conditions exist, you can use the Odd Periodic boundary condition
to model sections of linear or rotary machines that have an odd number of poles. The mesh
nodes on one plane of symmetry are related to the mesh nodes on the other side.

Surface Impedance: Uses a calculated value, or a specified value, to represent the Ohmic
loss of a conducting component, and assigns the value as a boundary condition to the
selected surface.

Thin Plate: Thin plates are implemented in Simcenter MAGNET as a surface property. The
user can assign a surface property to the face(s) of component(s).

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Finite element mesh
In the finite element method of analysis, the model is divided into a mesh of elements. The
field inside each element is represented by a polynomial with unknown coefficients. The finite
element analysis is the solution of the set of equations for the unknown coefficients.

The accuracy of the solution depends upon the nature of the field and the size of the mesh
elements. In regions where the direction or magnitude of the field is changing rapidly, high
accuracy requires small elements or high polynomial orders (or a combination of both).

Simcenter MAGNET provides you with control over the size of the mesh elements. You can
change the size of the elements for the entire model, or only in areas of interest.

Adaption
Simcenter MAGNET's adaption process automatically identifies the areas of the mesh most in
need of improvement and refines the mesh (h-adaption), or increases the polynomial order of
the elements (p-adaption), in those areas.

Simcenter MAGNET's adaption is controlled by adaption options that are set before solving
begins. These options determine:

 the type of adaption method (h-adaption or p-adaption)

 the percentage of elements of the mesh that are refined during each adaption step
 the adaption convergence tolerance
 the maximum number of adaption steps
The Adaption Options are set in the Adaption Options properties page.

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Solving the model
Simcenter MAGNET solves Maxwell's equations to find the magnetic field within the model.
The solution can be Magnetostatic, Time-harmonic, Transient, or Transient with motion for
either 2D or 3D models.
Simcenter MAGNET also offers an adaption process that automatically identifies and refines
the areas of the mesh most in need of refinement to improve the quality of the solution.
The computed magnetic fields are viewed as shaded, arrow, or contour plots or as field
animations. In addition, Simcenter MAGNET automatically extracts from the field solution
certain parameters of interest (depending on the solution type).
Static
 Total magnetic stored energy and co-energy
 Force and torque on each body
 Flux linking each coil
 Ohmic loss in each conducting component
 Iron loss for each enabled component
 Current in each coil and circuit component
Time-harmonic
 Time-averaged magnetic stored energy
 Time-averaged force and torque on each body
 RMS total flux linking each coil -- (real and imaginary or magnitude and phase)
 Time-averaged ohmic loss in each conducting component
 Iron loss for each enabled component
 RMS net current through each voltage-driven coil and circuit component
-- (real and imaginary or magnitude and phase)
 RMS net voltage drop across each current-driven coil and circuit component
-- (real and imaginary or magnitude and phase)
Transient
 Instantaneous magnetic stored energy and co-energy
 Instantaneous force and torque on each body
 Instantaneous flux linking each coil
 Time-averaged ohmic loss in each conducting component
 Time-averaged iron loss for each enabled component
 Instantaneous net current through each voltage-driven coil and circuit component
 Instantaneous net voltage across each current-driven coil and circuit component
Transient 2D/3D with Motion (Same as Transient, plus the following)
 Magnetic Force/Torque
 Load Force/Torque
 Net Force/Torque
 Position
 Speed
 Acceleration
 Mass
 Center of gravity
 Moment of Inertia

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