Finite element approximation of nonlinear transient magnetic problems involving periodic potential drop excitations

Abstract This paper deals with the computation of nonlinear 2D transient magnetic fields when the data concerning the electric current sources involve potential drop excitations. In the first part, a mathematical model is stated, which is solved by an implicit time discretization scheme combined with a finite element method for space approximation. The second part focuses on developing a numerical method to compute periodic solutions by determining a suitable initial current which avoids large simulations to reach the steady state. This numerical method leads to solve a nonlinear system of equations which requires to approximate several nonlinear and linear magnetostatic problems. The proposed methods are first validated with an axisymmetric example and sinusoidal source having an analytical solution. Then, we show the saving in computational effort that this methodology offers to approximate practical problems specially with pulse-width modulation (PWM) voltage supply.