Initial operation of beam optics analysis, a 3D charged particle code with adaptive meshing

Summary form only given, as follows. The Beam Optics Analysis (BOA) is a 3D, finite element, charged particle, trajectory code with adaptive meshing. The program operates within AutoCAD, which is used for geometric and attribute input. Post processing is performed using the graphics program Visualization ToolKit. The program is fully relativistic and includes electric and magnetic field solvers. The user draws the geometrical input within AutoCAD and adds attribute information, such as material type, and boundary type. Parametric data is input using custom graphical user interface screens accessed from the AutoCAD menu bar. Upon initiation of execution, the program performs a check of the input data to ensure that boundaries are closed and a valid input is available. The geometry is transferred to the mesh generator, which generates the initial tetrahedral mesh. Meshing is automatic and requires no user input. After each iteration, the mesh is adapted using error criteria specified by the user. In regions where the error exceeds the specification, the mesh density is increased. In areas where the error is significantly smaller than specified, the mesh density is lowered to reduce the computational load. This ensures that the mesh is optimized for both accuracy and performance.