Stochastic handling of tolerances in robust magnets design

Due to construction tolerances, the performances of actual electromagnetic devices differ from those of the nominal design. A strategy for the search of design solutions robust against construction tolerances is presented. The approach is based on the statistical analysis of the tolerances impact on the design objective function to be evaluated. The application of the proposed strategies to the optimal design of magnetic resonance imaging magnets by a genetic algorithm shows the possibility to direct the search toward robust solutions.