Flux

Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Field Analysis

       Altair Flux finite element software leverages more than 35 years of continuous innovation and global experience in design optimization applications to provide you with low-frequency electromagnetic field and thermal simulation solutions. Flux offers an open, user-friendly interface that can be easily coupled with other Altair software, and it can be applied to multiphysics analysis of different systems, including 2D, 3D, and skew slot simulations.

       Altair Flux features world-class numerical analysis technology, providing accurate results rapidly. Its rich capabilities, such as multi-parameter analysis, circuit and mechanical motion coupling, enable extensive analysis, design, and optimization tasks.

Broad Application Range

• Rotating machines (motors)

• Linear actuators, solenoids

• Transformers and inductors

• Induction heating

• Sensors

• Cables and electrical connections

• Electromagnetic compatibility

【 Advantages 】

       Using advanced mathematical models and self-adaptive meshing techniques, Flux delivers highly accurate and reliable results within the shortest computation time. The Flux solver is continuously improved to enhance computation speed and can be used to evaluate thousands of design operating conditions.

Flexibility

• Fully customizable to meet user requirements.

• Built-in scripting tools and macro editors for process recording and automation. Different workflows can be completely saved and reused.

• Flux can be coupled with virtually any software, improving usability for non-expert users.

Parametric Simulation
       Flux can define geometric dimensions or physical properties with parameters and easily link multiple parameters via equations. The influence of any parameter in an analysis task can be visualized intuitively through multi-dimensional curves, contour/vector plots, and animations.
 

Scalability
       Flux can be easily coupled with other 3D simulation software for multiphysics analysis of complex phenomena. Flux can also be connected to system analysis tools for component performance evaluation at system level or control strategy design. The coupling supports multiple interaction levels, from reduced-order model extraction to full co-simulation.

【 Capabilities 】

Wide Range of Analysis Types

• Magnetic field, electric field, thermal field

• Magnetic / dielectric / thermal coupling

• Mechanical motion coupling

• Multiphysics coupling

• Static, harmonic, and transient analysis

• Parametric analysis

• External circuit coupling

Powerful Geometry Modeling

• Easy-to-use 2D sketcher with parametric capabilities

• Built-in fully parametric 3D modeler

• Advanced CAD import & export

• Geometry healing and simplification tools

• Dedicated 2D & 3D rotating machine modeling templates

Powerful, Flexible, and Easy-to-Use Mesher

       The Altair Flux mesher supports different mesh types and meshing technologies, which can be combined in both 2D and 3D analyses:

• Intelligent automatic meshing based on geometric and physical features

• Excellent control over mesh size and distribution

• Mapped meshing and connected meshing capabilities

• Self-adaptive mesh refinement in 2D & 3D

       Altair Flux also supports direct import of complex 3D finite element meshes from Altair HyperMesh™ and Altair SimLab™ for electromagnetic field computation.

Advanced Modeling Techniques for Fast and Accurate Results

• Infinite box for open-boundary problems

• Non-meshed coil modeling

• Thin shell modeling using surface elements

• Fast evaluation of skew slot effects on geometry

• Nonlinear anisotropic material models

• Hysteresis models

• Winding skin and proximity effect loss models

• Partial Element Equivalent Circuit (PEEC) method for power conductor calculations

Robust Solvers

• Fully parametric solvers for geometric and physical parameter sweeps

• Multiple iterative and direct linear solvers available, supporting multi-core parallel computation

• Nonlinear solvers

• Distributed parametric parallel computation supporting multi-core or multi-machine runs

• Self-adaptive mesh refinement and time-step control during parameter sweeps

Post-Processing
       Flux can compute a rich set of physical quantities:

• Electric field strength, magnetic field strength, temperature

• Flux, inductance, energy

• Core losses and Joule losses

• Displacement, velocity, electromagnetic force, torque, etc.

• Skin effect visualization

• User-defined quantities

• Maps, contour plots, vector plots, animations

• 2D and 3D curves and spectral analysis

• Cross-sectional plots

• Look-up tables for system-level analysis

• Data export (Excel, txt, etc.)

Multiphysics
       Flux provides direct interfaces to connect with dedicated tools and set up co-simulation or load transfer, mainly for electromagnetic–thermal and electromagnetic–vibration–noise analyses.

Electromagnetic–Thermal Analysis
       Flux can be coupled with fluid analysis tools (such as Altair AcuSolve™, ANSYS Fluent, or CD-Adapco STAR-CCM+) to perform more powerful and accurate fluid cooling analyses. Thanks to its support for all potential thermal coupling capabilities, Flux delivers efficient and accurate electromagnetic–thermal design workflows.

Vibration and Noise Coupling for NVH Reduction
       Electromagnetic forces are one of the main noise sources in electromagnetic structures. Altair Flux can accurately compute these forces and pass them to vibration analysis tools such as Altair OptiStruct™, LMS Virtual.Lab, MSC Nastran, or ANSYS Mechanical.

Advanced System Integration
       Considering the electromechanical environment of electromagnetic devices is key to optimizing their real-world performance. By using equivalent circuit extraction, look-up tables, or co-simulation, Flux can be “coupled” with the system simulator Altair Activate to build system models with different accuracy levels according to design needs. Flux also supports coupling with other system analysis tools, including MATLAB Simulink and LMS Imagine.Lab Amesim.

Automation of the Analysis Process

• Custom macros and interfaces

• Simplify operations (from geometry creation to post-processing) through a command language (object-oriented language based on Java and Python)

• Invoke Flux from Altair Compose™ to drive more extensive computation workflows

• Any software can drive Flux through its API

Optimization
       By leveraging Altair’s powerful and reliable optimization tool Altair HyperStudy™, Flux can be further enhanced to automatically drive Flux finite element models for parametric optimization studies, greatly boosting design performance.

High-Performance Computing (HPC)
       Powerful computing resources (multi-processor or cluster systems) make it possible to evaluate many design variants simultaneously. Flux’s distributed parametric computation capability can be applied directly to all analysis types. Flux connects with Altair’s industry-leading workload management suite Altair PBS Works™, enabling users to tap into the power of remote HPC servers.