Optimal design and construction of a lightweight minimum-power solenoid magnet

The classic approach to design a minimum-power air-core electromagnet is to specify the dimensions of a rectangular cross-section solenoid for maximum Fabry factor. However, to reduce magnet capital costs or to ease siting requirements, it is often desirable to design the magnet to be relatively lightweight. Here, an analytical optimization approach is presented to design a minimum-power air-core electromagnet for a given conductor mass. Magnets designed with this approach require 70% less conductor volume and only 10% higher power than classic minimum-power magnets at the same field strength. Results are presented with a prototype solenoid magnet.