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Thin Surfaces

Thin surfaces are isotropic materials with a user-defined thickness that is less than or equal to the finite difference cell dimension in the cross-sectional direction. Thin surfaces are not finite difference materials in the normal sense, but the implementation of a mathematical algorithm designed to simulate the presence of a thin, isotropic, frequency independent material of considerable conductivity (e.g., the 10,000 S/m value associated with carbon fiber composites).

In the case of coincident or overlapping materials, materials are assigned the following priority:

Material Priority
Instructions
  1. ClickStructures Image 16 white Structures within the Definitions section under the EMA3D tab in the ribbon. Then selectThin Surface Image 16 Thin Surface.

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  3. In the properties panel, select Materials. Select the drop-down arrow that appears to its right. A new window will appear. Select theNew Material Image 16 New button. A new Thin Surface will appear. Double click it to assign it.

  4. thinsurface 2
  5. In the Properties Panel, adjust the thin surface properties as desired.

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  7. Use the select surfaceSelect Surface Image 16 tool to select the surface(s) to which to assign the Thin Surface definition.

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  9. Click OKCheck Image 16 to complete the Thin Surface definition.

  10. Adjust the definitions of the Thin Surface at any time by right clicking it within the Simulation Tree and selecting Edit from the pop-up menu.

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General
Options

Entry

Meaning

Material

Local thin surface definition to assign to the geometry.

Name

Name of the material.

General
General Options

Entry

Meaning

Color

Color to use when rendering the material.

Permittivity (ε)

Material absolute permittivity [F/m].

Relative Permittivity (εᵣ)

Material relative permittivity.

Permeability (μ)

Material absolute permeability [H/m].

Relative Permeability (μᵣ)

Material relative permeability.

Electric Conductivity (σₑ)

Material electric conductivity [S/m].

Magnetic Conductivity (σₘ)

Material magnetic conductivity.

Thickness

Material surface thickness [mm; must be smaller than spatial step in normal direction].

Metadata
Metadata Options

Entry

Meaning

Part Number

Part number of material (if any).

Company

Company of material (if any).

Category

Category of material (if any).

Abbreviation

Abbreviation of material (if any).

Description

Description of material (if any).

Short Name

Short name description of material (if any).

Long Name

Long name description of material (if any).

Version

Version of material (if any).

See Also

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