Quantitative assessment of finite-element models for magnetostatic field calculations

We present quantitative means for assessing the numerical accuracy of static magnetic field calculations in finite-element models. Our calculations use the three-dimensional Opera simulation software suite of Dassault Systèmes. Our need to assess the effects of fringe fields requires such a 3D algorithm. While we do discuss and compare our approach to a method of accuracy estimation used in the Opera post-processor, our methods are generally applicable to any model using relaxation techniques in finite-element systems. For purposes of illustration, we present modeling and analysis of two types of quadrupole electromagnets presently in operation in the south arc of the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR). Calculations of field multipole expansion coefficients and numerical deviations from Maxwell’s equations in source-free regions are discussed, with emphasis on the dependence of their accuracy on changes to the finite-element model. Successive refinement steps in the finite-element model for the non-extraction type of CESR south arc quadrupole achieve a reduction in the RMS value of the longitudinal component of the curl vector on the magnet axis by a factor of nearly 70 from 4.38×10−2 T/m to 6.36×10−4 T/m, which is 0.0021% of the field gradient. An accuracy of 2.9% is achieved for a dodecapole coefficient of 2.4×10−4 of that of the quadrupole in the longitudinal integral of the vertical field gradient at a radius of 1 cm.