Abstract:
This paper details the validation of a new electromagnetism module developed for the LS-DYNA software, designed to perform coupled mechanical-thermal-electromagnetic simulations. The module is tested by simulating an isentropic compression experiment in a strip line geometry and comparing the numerical results with experimental data from GEPI shot 268. The new software package solves the Maxwell equations in the Eddy current approximation using a Finite Element Method (FEM) for the solid conductors and a Boundary Element Method (BEM) for the surrounding air or vacuum. The computed electromagnetic fields generate a "Lorentz" force for the mechanical solver and a Joule heating term for the thermal solver. Initial simulations using the measured experimental current resulted in a Free Surface Velocity (FSV) that was 24% higher than the experimental value. However, by adjusting the input current by 7%, which is within the experimental measurement uncertainty of 10%, the numerical FSV showed very close agreement with the measured data. The study also found that Steinberg and Zerilli-Armstrong constitutive laws produced similar results.\
