Finite element analysis and computer-aided optimal design of the magnetic field of fluxgate magnetometers

The authors have developed a novel procedure for the optimum design of the magnetic field of a fluxgate magnetometer. The procedure uses the finite element method for the analysis of the magnetic field in various driving current conditions. This includes the analysis of the combined effect of the earth's magnetic field and other time-varying magnetic fields, the digitizing of the nonlinear conditional variation equation for ease of digital computation, and the fast Fourier transform for calculating output signals. The procedure also features computer-aided optimum design software for the magnetic field. The system has been implemented with a single-chip microcomputer which can determine the optimal driving current for the magnetometer online in real time. Experimental results show that that the procedure is significantly better than traditional ones.<>