Computational Modeling and Optimization of a Magnetic Shielding Cabinet

Magnetic shielding is used to offer protection from stray magnetic fields to devices sensitive to magnetic noise. The Finite element method has been used in order to simulate the magnetic shielding effect of such a chamber in the geomagnetic field. Different designs for the cabinet have been considered and simulated in a static magnetic field of the same magnitude, as geomagnetic field, generated by a cylindrical coil. Several types of materials with different material properties have been simulated, such as high permeable mumetal and conductive aluminum, for the chamber itself, copper for the coil and air as the medium in which the magnetic field is propagating. The influence of geometrical and material properties parameters, like the thickness and the permeability of the ferromagnetic alloy, in the effectiveness of the shielding has been investigated using optimization techniques available in the design optimization module existing in the ANSYS v 14.0 (R) finite element analysis software.