Visualization of magnetic flux density in ferrite core structures

The use of two-dimensional numerical computation of magnetic field solutions for inductors and transformers is examined and the display of such data in an instructional and useful form is discussed. The emphasis of the paper is on the intuitive insights provided by computer animation and other visualization techniques. Such techniques offer a qualitative understanding of the effects of device construction on the resulting magnetic field distributions and aid in both the basic understanding of magnetic device operation and the exploration of unusual or unfamiliar operating modes. The topic of the occurrence of dimensional resonance in ferrite magnetic cores is used as an example to illustrate the use of various visualization techniques.<>