Ansys Maxwell
Advanced Electromagnetic Field Solver

A key benefit of Maxwell is its meshing capabilities highlighted by automatic adaptive meshing in the static solvers, and only requires model inputs such as geometry, material properties, and excitation and desired outputs to deliver accurate solutions. Using robust volumetric meshing with multithreading, Maxwell intelligently refines mesh density where needed, reducing time to solution and eliminating manual mesh refinement, making large-scale design exploration practical.

Maxwell supports design exploration with native capabilities and extends advanced optimization when coupled with Ansys optiSLang, improving performance and reducing material and development costs. Coupling with Ansys Mechanical and Fluent enables structural, NVH, and advanced cooling analyses. Designs created in Motor-CAD can be exported to Maxwell for 3D modeling, circuit coupling, and efficiency map generation using Motor-CAD LAB.

Maxwell, within Ansys Electronics Desktop (AEDT), enables accurate PCB layout creation and electromagnetic simulation by combining ECAD and MCAD models. It supports analysis of inductive coupling between PCBs, interactions with magnetic components and EMI filters, the influence of permanent magnets, and power modules in converters and inverters using wide-bandgap semiconductors such as SiC and GaN.

Maxwell provides advanced magnetic modeling for accurate analysis of motors, transformers, inductors, and other electromagnetic devices. It models nonlinear, anisotropic, and temperature-dependent effects, supporting design optimization to accelerate material selection, as well as proper characterization of losses. Advanced material modeling also enables reducing material costs and prototypes, improving performance, and accelerating development of high-performance electromagnetic devices across automotive, aerospace, industrial, and consumer electronics applications.

Maxwell’s electromagnetic field solvers, integrated with Workbench, System Coupling, and Ansys Motion, allow engineers to efficiently analyze complex coupled-physics behaviors. Designers can simulate thermal and structural performance due to electromagnetic losses and forces including one-way and two-way coupling.  Workflows for NVH in electric machines enable prediction of electromagnetic induced acoustics. 

Maxwell offers powerful optimization and design exploration capabilities, leveraging Ansys optiSLang and optimetrics to accelerate innovation. Engineers can automatically explore multiple design variants, understand tradeoffs, identify optimal configurations, and improve performance, efficiency, and reliability of electromagnetic devices. By integrating parametric studies, sensitivity analysis, and goal-driven optimization, Maxwell helps reduce development time, minimize prototypes, and enable informed decision-making for high-performance motors, actuators, and other electromechanical systems.

Connecting Maxwell’s magnetic FEA models to the electrical domain is enabled by definition of complex voltage or current waveforms either directly through the PWM Winding definition, or by connecting arbitrarily defined circuits using the Maxwell Circuit Editor.  Furthermore, Simplorer (included with Maxwell), enables the connection of advanced electrical circuits; engineers can integrate circuits, controls, and high-fidelity power semiconductor models connected to Maxwell either through co-simulation or via Maxwell’s reduced order models (ROMs). 

Simplorer enables seamless analysis not only with Maxwell but also with other EM tools such as Ansys Q3D and Ansys HFSS for other power electronics applications.