Christos Christopoulos

Analytical formulation for the shielding effectiveness of enclosures with apertures

An analytical formulation has been developed for the shielding effectiveness of a rectangular enclosure with an aperture. Both the magnetic and electric shielding may be calculated as a function of frequency, enclosure dimensions, aperture dimensions and position within the enclosure. Theoretical values of shielding effectiveness are in good agreement with measurements. The theory has been extended to account for circular apertures, multiple apertures, and the effect of the enclosure contents.

Conducted electromagnetic emissions in induction motor drive systems. II. Frequency domain models

For pt.I see ibid., vol.13, no.4, p.757-67 (1998). Predicting conducted emissions in pulsewidth modulation (PWM) inverter induction motor drive systems requires various frequency-dependent effects to be considered. A frequency domain method has advantages in such cases compared to a time domain approach. Based on the modal analysis presented in Part I, this paper develops frequency domain models to evaluate the spectra of the conducted emissions directly. The common and differential mode excitation sources are modeled in the frequency domain and related to the switching functions of the PWM inverter. Network models are established where the induction motor is represented using its frequency-dependent impedance characteristics, which can be obtained from measurements. The influences of system unbalances and of transmission-line effects due to long cables are investigated. Predicted emission spectra are compared with laboratory measurements and those derived from the time domain simulation. It is found that the agreement is good. The proposed method allows emission spectra to be predicted without recourse to specialist circuit simulators.

Conducted electromagnetic emissions in induction motor drive systems. I. Time domain analysis and identification of dominant modes

Stray components distributed in a pulsewidth modulation (PWM) drive system form parts of resonant circuits which can be excited to produce radio frequency (RF) noise driven by the pulsed switching action of the power devices. The dynamic response of such circuits is complex. It is essential to identify the dominant oscillation modes in the system so that electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction techniques can be effectively implemented. This paper (Part I) investigates the mechanisms of conducted EMI emissions associated with a typical PWM inverter induction motor drive system. A numerical model, which includes the high-frequency effects within the machine, is established to evaluate the emissions in the time domain. The dominant high-frequency current paths are identified, and this allows the oscillation frequencies to be predicted from knowledge of the component values. The analysis is confirmed using laboratory measurements. Simplified frequency domain methods for direct calculation of the emission spectra based on the dominant high-frequency current paths are discussed in Part II.

Generalized material models in TLM .I. Materials with frequency-dependent properties

This paper presents the fundamentals of a unified approach for the treatment of general material properties in time-domain simulation based on transmission-line modeling (TLM). Linear frequency-dependent isotropic materials are dealt with in the first instance. The iteration schemes for one-dimensional (1-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) models are developed from Maxwells curl equations and the constitutive relations. Results are presented showing the accuracy of this approach.

Modeling Electromagnetic Emissions From Printed Circuit Boards in Closed Environments Using Equivalent Dipoles

In this paper, a method for representing electromagnetic emissions from a printed circuit board (PCB) using an equivalent dipole model deduced from near-field scanning is proposed. The basic idea is to replace the PCB with a set of infinitesimal dipoles that generate the same radiated fields. Parameters of the equivalent dipoles are determined by directly fitting to the measured magnetic near fields. In closed-environment simulations, the equivalent method is extended to a dipole-dielectric conducting plane model to account for the interactions between the PCB and enclosure by including the basic physical features of the PCB. The electromagnetic emissions can then be predicted by solving the equivalent model with numerical methods, thereby, significantly reducing the simulation time and storage costs. A basic test board and a more complex practical telemetry PCB are modeled in different configurations and compared with measurements and full-field simulations, confirming the validity and efficiency of the model.

Customised broadband metamaterial absorbers for arbitrary polarisation

This paper shows that customised broadband absorption of electromagnetic waves having arbitrary polarisation is possible by use of lossy cut-wire (CW) metamaterials. These useful features are confirmed by numerical simulations in which different lengths of CW pairs are combined as one periodic metamaterial unit and placed near to a perfect electric conductor (PEC). So far metamaterial absorbers have exhibited some interesting features, which are not available from conventional absorbers, e.g. straightforward adjustment of electromagnetic properties and size reduction. The paper shows how with proper design a broad range of absorber characteristics may be obtained.

Generalized material models in TLM .II. Materials with anisotropic properties

For pt. I see ibid., vol.47, no.10, p.1528-34 (1999). Transmission-line modeling (TLM) can be used for the time-domain simulation of electromagnetic wave propagation in anisotropic and bi-anisotropic media. In this paper, Z-transform methods are utilized to obtain the time-domain iteration procedures for propagation in anisotropic and bi-isotropic materials. For clarity, the method is first developed for one-dimensional (1-D) propagation and then extended to the three-dimensional (3-D) case.

Generalized material models in TLM - part 3: materials with nonlinear properties

For part 2 see ibid., vol.47, no.10, p.1535-42 (1999). This paper reports on a general approach for the time-domain simulation of electromagnetic wave propagation in frequency-dependent nonlinear dielectric materials using transmission-line modeling (TLM). The computational schemes are formulated in detail and results are presented for three classes of nonlinear dielectric materials.

Model of the electromagnetic fields inside a cuboidal enclosure populated with conducting planes or printed circuit boards

We examine the extension of a simple and versatile model of the electromagnetic fields in an equipment enclosure with an aperture to include the effects of loading the enclosure with conducting planes or printed circuit board structures (PCB). Modeling results are compared with experimental measurements of the shielding effectiveness in a cuboidal enclosure loaded with both grounded and ungrounded conducting planes and/or PCBs with a range of grounded and ungrounded tracks. Measurement results are compared with full electromagnetic simulations and the simple model to demonstrate the accuracy and range of validity of the simple model.

Transmission-line modeling using unstructured triangular meshes

Transmission-line modeling (TLM) is an established numerical simulation method for electromagnetics that has been employed in a wide variety of application areas. To date, TLM has been formulated primarily for structured (usually Cartesian) meshes. This paper presents and illustrates the application of a new TLM algorithm suitable for use with unstructured two-dimensional meshes based upon triangular elements.