Switch

The switch is a feature that will create a PEC connection at a designated time at specified locations. It is usually specified to act along a line at a specified time thereby creating a conductive connection between two structures or objects. However, the switch is designed to act along, or within, any geometry. Whatever geometry is specified as a switch will eventually become PEC. As many switches as desired can be specified.

The PEC connection created by the switch is not done instantaneously. Instantaneous activation will result in the manifestation of excessive amounts of numerical noise. For this reason, the switch is activated over a time period. The effect is realized by slowly reducing the magnitude of the associated electric field to zero – thus simulating a PEC connection. The manner of reduction is provided by the equation below.

where: n is the number of time steps since the specified activation time,

It should be realized that no physics is involved with this mechanism. It is not meant to simulate air breakdown or the breakdown of any materials.