Why is electromagnetic analysis so valuable to our customers?

Why is electromagnetic analysis so valuable to our customers?

Figure 1: Electromagnetic Capabilities.

Electromagnetism is found everywhere, from industries to our daily life. Electromagnetic fields coming from different sources such as broadcasting antennas, wireless devices are ubiquitous around us. In general, the scope of electromagnetic analysis is enormous because any device which consumes or produces electricity uses electromagnetic energy. Even in nature, we visualize remarkable effects, such as lightning and polar lights.
Even though electromagnetic fields are everywhere, we can’t see them. We often cannot do experiments to test the reliability of their operation, either for safety reasons or because it is expensive. Therefore, electromagnetic simulation has become a crucial analysis in the earliest stages of device development.
Here are some of the industry challenges of electromagnetic simulations:
Aerospace & Defense: All communication systems need antennas to provide a stable communication link. More sophisticated antennas, such as phased arrays comprise of many radiating elements tightly packed together. Simulation can help in the array design process and the geometrical alignment of the various components to analyze the installed performance of the antenna system on a more complex platform.

Figure 2: Blade Antenna far-field and E-Field on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

High Tech: It relies heavily on electromagnetics. With ever-increasing data transmission speeds and ever more compact devices, there is a challenge to continue to deliver high-quality products. Electromagnetic simulations allow you to see what happens during device operation, from how waves propagate in the environment to the board level inside the device, which helps to optimize product design and ensure product quality.

Figure 3: CST PCB & Package Simulation Workflow.

Transportation & Mobility: The rise of sensors usage and connectivity for lane assist, auto-pilot, device connectivity means the designers have to bring electromagnetic analysis early in their design process. In recent years, electronics and software applications have driven 80% of automotive innovations. Adopting electronics in a modern vehicle leads to more electromagnetic fields being present and the need to make sure that each system works and doesn’t interfere with the growing number of other electronic-based systems that are or will be present. Perhaps not given much thought by the public, but other applications like motors and generators are the workhorses of the industry. While these have been around for a long-time, development continues with simulation for electric drives to continuously optimize the designs and make viable new markets for electric vehicles.

Figure 4: Electrical Machine Efficiency in Induction Motors. Source: 3DS.

Compliance & Life Sciences: The interaction of electromagnetic fields and the body is essential for modern communication devices, cell phones, and advanced medical monitoring, imaging, and treatment systems. Direct measurement inside a body is not a viable solution. Therefore, electromagnetic simulation is the only way to analyze the complex field distribution inside the body, ensure the device’s functionality, and avoid unintentional damage because of energy absorption inside the tissues.

Figure 5: Post-processing Analysis, Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). Source: 3DS.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG): Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are required at industrial levels to track products, assets, and material flow. Electromagnetic simulations have become crucial to better understand the device’s behavior, allowing engineers to examine how the system will behave in a realistic environment. These environmental effects can be brutal to detect without using simulation.

Figure 6: Design Workflow of RFID Systems.

Marine & Offshore: Analyzing ship signatures because of Earth’s magnetic field is challenging for this industry. Modeling and optimization of multiple design parameters using Opera reduce design errors and the need for rework. Accurate modeling of ship signatures using filamentary conductors and thin plate boundary conditions reduces computational time and improves the design. Opera optimization capabilities allow finding the optimum set of parameters to minimize the vessel signature to the desired level and meet design requirements confidently.

Figure 7: Designing racetrack conductors for degaussing problems in a ship. Source: 3DS.

Energy & Materials: Non-destructive testing or evaluation (NDT or NDE) is a process used in industry to evaluate the properties of a material or a system without damaging it. Electromagnetic simulations can design and analyze the different methods implemented in this test with high reliability. Opera-3D includes simulation tools that are very effective for creating non-destructive testing equipment.

Figure 8: Coil above a Crack: A problem in Non-destructive Testing. Opera-3D results. Source: 3DS.

Industrial Equipment: 5G promises to bring to the market high speed, more capacity to connect different devices simultaneously, more reliability, and a significantly reduced latency. In an industrial context, it represents the development of intelligent factories with highly efficient production. It is necessary to look at many aspects of intelligent manufacturing and the Internet of Things (IoT). The equipment needs to represent the best performances in connectivity with base stations for complete coverage without blind spots in the environment. Everything will need sensors and antennas to communicate. Engineers and Manufacturers need to consider the outside influences to avoid interferences with the ongoing operations. With electromagnetic simulations, we have a comprehensive set of solutions for various aspects of network design in an industrial environment, from large complex dynamic scenarios to details to ensure we get relevant results.

Figure 9: RF Coverage Simulation Results. Electric field magnitude at 3.6 GHz at the height of 1 m above the factory floor. Source: 3DS.

Despite the challenges presented above, innovations are commonplace in many industries. However, the development time is often long, taking up to almost a decade to bring a new airplane to market or several years to develop a new car. This amount of time would mean always being late to market with a unique design, and the benefits of being first, even by months, can be enormous. For this reason, electromagnetic simulation is a vital aspect of these short device development cycles.

In Vias3D3D, we have a reliable technical team with solid technical knowledge to help you with the electromagnetic analysis you need to develop. If you would like to know more about our capabilities, please contact:

Pankaj Jha, [email protected] or Arindam Chakraborty, PhD, PE, [email protected]

Who we are: Vias3D3D delivers integrated engineering solutions using simulation-based design and analysis, data analytics, and material testing for a variety of industries including high-tech, energy, process, utilities, transportation, and oil & gas. We bring to our clients dedicated, cost-effective, quick, and safer solutions with an experienced team of simulation experts and industry professionals. Vias3D3D also provides engineering design, root cause analysis, optimization, project management, operations support, and operations integrity assessment with a combined personnel experience of more than 100 years covering industrial equipment, boiler, and pressure vessel industry, offshore engineering, etc. Vias3D3D has workflow automation and GUI customization capabilities. It also provides knowledge transfer through customized training.
Contributors:
Ismary Lavandera, M.S., EMAG Solutions Engineer at Vias3D3D.
Ismary has 7 years of experience working on RF and Microwave systems, modeling, and simulating different types of Electromagnetic problems. She has academic and industrial experience from MHz to THz in specific topics like Antenna, Antenna Array, Power Amplifier Design, broadband matching networks design, and Filter design. She provides technical support and engineering services to customers for Electromagnetics solutions. She received her B.S and M.S degrees in electronics and telecommunications engineering from the Technological University of Habana.

Pankaj Jha, M.S., Global EMAG Technical Lead at Vias3D3D.
Pankaj is an RF and Microwave engineer with more than 9 years of academic and industrial experience in modeling and simulation different types of electromagnetic problems. He has worked in Antenna, Antenna Array, Filter Design, Microwave, and RF circuits from GHz to THz, Bio-electromagnetics, EMI/EMC, EDA/Electronics, and Low-Frequency Electromagnetic problems. He leads the electromagnetic applications at Vias3D3D and helps drive the growth of Vias3D electromagnetic solutions to customers. He worked with Dassault Systems as a Solution Consultant and was responsible for Aerospace & Defense and High-Tech industry technical portfolios for the CST Studio Suite. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), where he studied Radio Frequency Design and Technology.