Cobham software speeds up finite element analysis simulation

The enhancement is said to enable precision finite element analysis (FEA) models of motors and generators to be created and solved in minutes, and by non-specialists. Machines Environment is an application specific extension to the Opera electromagnetic simulation package. It is designed to provide a front-end to the simulator to speed design entry by means of Wizard style dialog boxes. According to Cobham, users need only select the style of motor or generator they want to design from a library of all common types, before dialog boxes allow them to enter parameters to define mechanical geometry, material properties and electrical data. The FEA model is then automatically created. The integrated optimisation tool, dubbed 'Optimizer', is said to make it simple for users to find the best solution across the design space by selecting and managing multiple goal-seeking algorithms. These include stochastic, descent, particle swarm and Kriging. "This software makes the high accuracy of FEA available to all engineers, not just the expert with years of experience," says Cobham's Jeremy Howard Knight. "Even a novice engineer can now create a precision finite element model and find the best solution in a design space, without needing to know much more than what he or she wants to achieve." Cobham's Machines Environment is expected to appeal to users of analytic motor design programs, giving a means of performing more accurate analysis rapidly and without the engineering overhead usually required for accurate FEA. A three dimensional version is also available.