Magneto-mechanical simulations by a coupled fast multipole method-finite element method

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the three-dimensional magnetostatic-mechanical problems—featuring infinite domains, nonlinear ferromagnetic materials, and large relative motions among different components—by means of a numerical approach coupling a fast multipole method with both standard and nonstandard finite element methods. The fast multipole methods (FMM) are considered an efficient tool for evaluating the contribution to the integral equations stemming from regions that are far apart from each other, the "near field" contributions being evaluated by means of classical tools. The finite element method (FEM) has a dominant status in the field of computational methods in engineering—mostly because of its greater flexibility and wider range of applicability.