RE: [femm] Re: Linux and 3D

["Robin Cornelius" <robin.cornelius@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From:
sentto-1333690-937-1012340282-robin.cornelius=hirst-magnetics.com@return
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[mailto:sentto-1333690-937-1012340282-robin.cornelius=hirst-magnetics.co
m@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Victor Bellido-Gonzalez
Sent: 29 January 2002 19:23
To: femm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [femm] Re: Linux and 3D


Has anyone got an idea of when it could be possible to have a working 3D
FEMM?
I am saying that because we are now in the process of buying 3D
software, and so far it is a bit hairy, not as friendly as it is sold...

Would it be possible/useful to "cross pollinate" FEMM with an already
free 3D finite element software such as Gmsh+GetDP (http://www.geuz.org)
developed by some guys in the University of Liege (Belgium)?
Regards,
Victor.


I am familiar with the Gmsh/GetDP software. I think it may be difficut to
cross pollinate with Femme as it is an entirly differnet structure. The
source source is not avaiable, it is a completly different type of solver as
you have to actually write your own solver in the language of GetDP which
makes it complicated. You have to have a good understanding of finite
element formulation to even begin to use it. Don't get me wrong it is a very
powerful package but the advantage of femme is it has a very nice and simple
user interface. People not familiar with FEA code or programming can use it
and people who need more power can use lua scripting to generate complex
models and run batch processes.

The User interface of Gmsh is basicly OpenGL anyway (I believe) and it is
not simple to use. OpenGL is the obvious crossplat form 3D solution. There
is already a 3D mesh generator avaiable by Si Hang (Tetgen) which could form
a baisis for any 3D work in femme (see eariler posts in this group)

The GMsh/GetDP is on a kind of plug and play solver development route, a
standard is written down for interfacting your own solver to GMsh or own
front end to GetDP.

So at the moment 3D femme is only a future vision !

Yea, some commercial 3D softwate is a "bit hairy" I had to do a feasibility
study in to buying some a while ago and managed to go and visit people who
had various packages, I can see many obvious easy solutions to the hairyness
as this is normaly caused by having rock solid solvers and poor user
interfaces.

Robin Cornelius