Course syllabus

SSY200 – Computational Electromagnetics

• Thomas Rylander is lecturer, seminar leader and examiner: 
  email rylander[at]chalmers.se;
  tel 031 - 772 1735;
  (room 7407 in the EDIT-building)

• Carl Holmberg is teaching assistant and leads the Programming Q&A sessions: 
  email holcarl[at]chalmers.se;
  (room 7408 in the EDIT-building)

Mail address:
Department of Electrical engineering,
Hörsalsvägen 11,
Chalmers University of Technology, 
412 96 Göteborg

Numerical solution of Maxwell’s equations plays an increasingly important role in modern electrical engineering. Improvements, both in computer technology and numerical algorithms, make it possible to solve many electromagnetics design problems by computations, rather than the traditional way by building and testing proto- types. This holds in as diverse areas as eddy current calculations for generators, electrical machines and transformers, microwave circuits and antennas, optical components, radar scattering and electromagnetic compatibility.

The course introduces the main methods in Computational Electromagnetics: Finite Differences, Finite Elements and the Method of Moments and applies them to model problems. Applications from different areas of electromag- netics are used to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the methods. The course aims at enabling the student to choose appropriate methods for realistic electromagnetics problems.

See Canvas and TimeEdit for the detailed schedule, which will be updated shortly.

Literature

T. Rylander, A. Bondeson and P. Ingelström, Computational Electromagnetics (2nd edition), New York: Springer, 2013.

The course is organized entirely online and it features interactive seminars and self-study sessions that are offered in Zoom. The course is centered around five hand-in problems that cover large parts of the course contents, which makes the course work rather practical. Both the seminars and the self-study classes are oriented towards hand-in problems (MATLAB) dealing with application problems. 

• Seminars: During the seminars, we discuss the hand-in problems and their relation to the relevant theory described in the text book. The students are expected to have read the part of the book indicated in the study plan for the seminar, where this reading should be completed before the seminar takes place. 
• Programming Q&A sessions: The Programming Q&A sessions allow the students to work on their hand-in problems and ask detailed questions on their computer implementations.
• Feedback: Feedback is offered mainly during the self-study sessions and through Canvas.

Communication channels:

• Canvas: Course syllabus, complementary material, announcements, hand-in problem formulations, submission of hand-in problems, booking of oral examination, discussion forum, etc.
• Zoom: Seminars, Programming Q&A sessions, interactive sessions, etc.
• YouTube: Prerecorded lectures on the basic eliectromagnetic field theory.
• Email: Administrative questions, official communication, etc.

• Formulate and implement a basic computational algorithm in electromagnetics based on (i) the finite-difference scheme, (ii) the finite-element method and (iii) the boundary-element method.

• Perform basic assessment of the numerical error.

• Distinguish between different sources that contribute to the numerical error.

• Use basic extrapolation techniques.

• Choose between time, frequency or eigenvalue analysis for a given electromagnetic problem.

• Choose appropriate numerical techniques for a given application.

• Choose appropriate post-processing tools for a given application.

• Operate commercial software in an well-informed manner.

• Evaluate the computational resources required to analyze a given industrial problem.

The examination is individual and it consists of (i) five hand-in assignments where each one is complemented by a short oral examination and (ii) one final oral examination. The final oral examination is optional and it allows for the collection of credit points, see further details below.

The grades for undergraduate students are distributed according to:

• Grade 3: Accepted compulsory hand-in assignments, which consists of a written report that is complemented by a short oral examination for each hand-in assignment.

• Grade 4: Fulfillment of requirements for Grade 3 and, in addition, a total of 40-80 credit points collected during the course, see information below.

• Grade 5: Fulfillment of requirements for Grade 3 and, in addition, a total of 81-100 credit points collected during the course, see information below.

Graduate students need 61-100 credit points to pass the course. 

Hand-in assignments: The individual hand-in assignments consist of (i) compulsory tasks and (ii) additional tasks that are rewarded by credit points if correctly solved. The individual hand-in assignments are submitted in terms of a written report, where a first submission allows for revision before the second and final submission. The first submission allows for an oral feedback session, where time slots can be booked in the Calendar on Canvas. The second and final submission is complemented by a short compulsory oral examination with a few questions asked on the contents of the report, where time slots can be booked in the Calendar on Canvas. Correctly solved additional tasks in the hand-in assignments yield credit points according to the instructions in the hand-in assignments. All tasks in the first hand-in assignment are compulsory. The maximum number of credit points that can be collected from the hand-in assignments is 60.

Final oral examination (optional): Students who wish to attempt to collect extra credit points can be assessed on an individual basis during an optional final oral examination. No aids are allowed during the final oral examination. The final oral examination consists of four questions that are rewarded by credit points if correctly solved.  Each question is awarded with a maximum of 10 credit points. The four questions relate to the material in the text book, which may or may not have been covered by the hand-in assignments.