Simulation of the Magnetic Signature for Ferromagnetic Objects in Motion Using 3D-Printing Data

Investigations of the magnetic signature for ferromagnetic objects are extremely important in many areas. Some famous software can calculate the magnetic signature generated by the 3D ferromagnetic objects in motion, but they require tremendous computational time and large numerical resources. Therefore, we propose a simulation method whose core idea is to approximate the ferromagnetic object by a collection of magnetic dipoles whose placement is identified with the tool path information generated by 3D printing software and calculate the magnetic signature of the ferromagnetic object using the superposition principle. In view of the fact that each particle of a rigid body has the same laws of motion while the body moving and rotating in 3D space, coordinate translations, and rotations are used to implement the six-degrees-of-freedom movement of ferromagnetic objects. The simulations with a static object and objects in motion in the application of the magnetic test for a satellite validate the correctness of the proposed method. The evaluation of magnetic interference of a survey ship demonstrates the effectiveness. The method is easy to implement and has strong practicability and powerful expansibility.