Inductance Calculations for Circular Coils of Rectangular Cross Section and Parallel Axes Using Bessel and Struve Functions

A simple method for calculating the mutual and self inductances of circular coils of rectangular cross section and parallel axes is presented. The method applies to non-coaxial as well as coaxial coils, and self inductance can be calculated by considering two identical coils which coincide in space. It is assumed that current density is homogeneous in the coil windings. The inductances are given in terms of one-dimensional integrals involving Bessel and Struve functions, and an exact solution is given for one of these integrals. The remaining terms can be evaluated numerically to great accuracy using computer packages such as Mathematica. The method is compared with other exact methods for the coaxial case, and with a filamentary method for the non-coaxial case. Excellent agreement was found in all cases, and the exact method presented here agrees with another exact coaxial method to great numerical accuracy.