SIGEM was the longest survivor of the SIGs holding its final open meeting on 8 April 1987. Most of the software supported by SIGEM was developed at RAL. The three major packages, PE2D, TOSCA and BIM2D were for electromagnetic and electrostatic analysis in 2 and 3 dimensions. The programs were initially used to design superconducting magnets for a new accelerator at CERN. The Computing Applications Group (CAG) at RAL was formed to support these programmes developing methods for calculating electromagnetic fields. It was, therefore, uniquely placed to provide electromagnetic design software and support for university engineering users. adapting the packages to meet the requirements of university researchers:
Software | Description | Machine |
---|---|---|
GFUN | Integral operator 3D nonlinear magnetostatic package; some beam tracing possible. | IBM |
THESEUS | Interactive preprocessor for GFUN | Prime |
BIM2D | Boundary integral solver for linear Poisson equation in 2D. | Prime + AP120B |
PE2D | Differential operator solver for non-linear Poisson equation in 2D. Can be used for eddy current calculations and allows some beam tracing. | Prime |
BIM3D | 3D version of BIM2D | IBM |
TOSCA | Differential operator solver for nonlinear Poisson equation in 3D. | IBM |
The programs were heavily used by universities and industry. Some of the university groups that used the software were:
University/Institute | Project |
---|---|
Cardiff | Transformer limitation |
Bath | High homogeneity study Homopolar motor |
Aberdeen | Electrostatics (hazards) |
Southampton | Electrostatics (hazards) |
Leeds | Stepping motor |
Southampton | Magnetic levitation for wind tunnel |
Bangor | Magnetic levitation |
Imperial College | Machine problems |
Southampton | Machine slot study |
Surrey | Particle deflection magnet |
Bristol | Cathodic protection problem |
Culham Lab/RAL | In-house projects |
Compeda, was licensed to sell the Rutherford Electromagnetics Software. When Compeda was sold to Prime Computers, they were not interested in the niche, technically demanding electromagnetic market. In consequence, Vector Fields Limited was formed, to take over the market that Compeda had helped to develop. Bill Trowbridge from RAL headed the company and John Simkin provided the technical skills. The modern versions of these packages were available through Vector Fields as OPERA-2D, OPERA-3D and CONCERTO.
Vector Fields was acquired by Cobham in 2005 which later became part of Dassault Systemes.
Some papers relevant to the history of magnetic design at RAL are: