Eddy Current Modeling in Multiply Connected Regions via a Full-Wave Solver Based on the Quasi-Helmholtz Projectors

Abstract

Eddy currents are central to several industrial applications and there is a strong need for their efficient modeling. Existing eddy current solution strategies are based on a quasi-static approximation of Maxwell's equations for lossy conducting objects and thus their applicability is restricted to low frequencies. On the other hand, available full-wave solvers such as the Poggio-Miller-Chang-Harrington-Wu-Tsai (PMCHWT) equation become highly ill-conditioned and inaccurate in eddy current settings. This work presents a new well-conditioned and stable full-wave formulation which encompasses the simulation of eddy currents. Our method is built upon the PMCHWT equation and thus remains valid over the entire frequency range. Moreover, our scheme is also compatible with structures containing holes and handles (multiply connected geometries). The effectiveness of quasi-Helmholtz projectors is leveraged to obtain a versatile solver, which is computationally efficient and allows for a seamless transition between low and high frequencies. The stability and accuracy of the new method are demonstrated both theoretically and through numerical experiments on canonical and realistic structures.

Keywords

• Eddy currents
• preconditioning
• full-wave
• multiply connected
• quasi-Helmholtz decomposition