Vector Fields Ltd of Oxford, leading software house recently upgraded its electromagnetic simulation software package ELEKTRA to use edge variable finite element methods from earlier nodal finite element formulation slashing convergence time from nineteen days to one on some very complex simulations for Sherbrooke Consultants on the US Naval Mines Detection project.

In an edge variable finite element method, the parameter is no longer solved at the nodes of the element but on its edges, generating only one value per edge, rather than one per node, with vector direction implied by the edge.

Some of today's most advanced mines are actuated by the magnetic field produced as a ship rolls within the earth's magnetic field. Countered by opposite fields from coils on the ship, the problem is determining the field produced at every conceivable point on the earth's surface from the continually changing motion of the ship. Conventional electromagnetic software requires an enormous amount of computational resource to model the complex geometry of a modern warship but not with Vector Field's new edge variable method.Comparison of the ELEKTRA simulated results with earlier extensive analysis of the gunboat by the US Navy showed a remarkable co-relation.

"The US Navy has been very pleased with both the speed and accuracy with which electromagnetic simulation is able to determine the signatures of its ships".