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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, such as the 10,000 siemens/meter value associated with carbon fiber composites.

Defining a Thin Surface

  1. Click Structures Structures Image 16green within the Definitions section under the EMA3D tab in the ribbon.

  2. Select 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 the New button New Material Image 16. A new Thin Surface will appear. Double click it to assign it.

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  4. In the Properties Panel, adjust the thin surface properties as desired. Clicking on the name of a property will provide an explanation of its meaning in the Properties Panel. A list of adjustable properties and their meanings is provided in the table at the bottom of this page. The color is in A, R, G, B format and choosing an A between 0 (most transparent) and 255 (opaque) can make the color and mesh semi-transparent.

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  5. In the top left of the model window, the select surface Select Surface Image 16 tool has appeared.

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  6. Select the surface to which to assign the thin surface definition. It will be immediately recolored to the color chosen in the Properties Panel.

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  7. Click OK Check Image 16 to complete the thin surface definition.

  8. The new thin surface should now appear in the Simulation Tree under Thin Surface within the Definitions node. Adjust the definitions of the thin surface at any point by right clicking it within the Simulation Tree and selecting Edit Assignments from the pop-up menu. To delete a thin surface see the page on structure removal.

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Thin Surface Properties

Entry

Meaning

Name

The thin surface display name

Color

The thin surface display color - format is A, R, G, B and choosing an A less than 255 (opaque) will make the color and mesh semi-transparent

ε [F/m]

The thin surface permittivity

μ [H/m]

The thin surface permeability

σe [S/m]

The thin surface electric conductivity

σm

The thin surface magnetic conductivity

Thickness

The thin surface thickness

See Also

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