Workshop 3-6: RCS of a Cube

Introduction to ANSYS HFSS

1 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

HFSS-IE Example: PEC Cubic RCS
• Radar Cross Section of a PEC Cube
• This workshop is intended to show you how to create, simulate, and analyze the RCS of a perfectly conducting (PEC) Cube, using the
ANSYS HFSS-IE Design Environment.
• This example was taken from the publication, “Electromagnetic Code Consortium Benchmarks,” compiled by Andrew Greenwood and
published by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

2 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Background
• Background on RCS and PEC Cube problem
• As mentioned previously, this problem was taken from a paper illustrating some simple radar targets that can be used to “calibrate”
electromagnetic simulators. The paper used several different university codes for the different targets.
• The measurements from the paper which we will simulate are shown below in the graphs. They represents Monostatic RCS.

• From this graph, we can obtain some settings for the HFSS-IE simulation:
– Adaptive Frequency: 0.43 GHz – Single frequency / no sweep
– Azimuth (f) swept with a fixed Elevation
• q = 90°
• f = 0° to 90° – since the structure is symmetric about the axis, we won’t simulate the remaining quadrants
– VV-polarized – Excite the vertical polarization (q) and observe the vertical polarization (q)
• Ephi = 0 / Etheta = 1
• Observe MonostaticRCSTheta

3 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

HFSS: Getting Started
• Launching ANSYS Electronics Desktop 2015
• To access ANSYS Electronics Desktop, click the Microsoft Start button, select Programs > ANSYS Electromagnetics > ANSYS
Electromagnetics Suite 17.0 > ANSYS Electronics Desktop 2016

• Setting Tool Options

• Select the menu item Tools > Options > General Options…
– Find HFSS line and expand it
• Choose Boundary Assignment window and check all entries
– Find 3D Modeler line and expand it
• Choose Drawing window and make sure the last line is checked
• Find Display line and expand it
– Choose History Tree window and check all entries
– Choose Rendering window and set default transparency to 0.8
• Click the Ok button

Option settings suggested here ensure that the user can consistently follow the
steps in the Workshop. A user can prefer his/her own option configuration.

4 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Example – RCS of a Cube
• Opening a New Project
• In Ansys Electronics Desktop, click the  On the Standard toolbar, or
select the menu item File > New.
• From the Project menu, select Insert HFSS-IE Design.

• Set Model Units

• Select the menu item Modeler > Units
– Select Units: meter
– Click the OK button

• Set Default Material

• Using the 3D Modeler Materials toolbar, choose Select
– Type pec in the Search by Name field
– Click the OK button

5 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Example – RCS of a Cube
• Creating the Cube
• Select the menu item Draw > Box
– Using the coordinate entry fields, enter the box origin
• X: -0.5, Y: -0.5, Z: -0.5, Press the Enter key
– Using the coordinate entry fields, enter the size of the box:
• dX: 1, dY: 1, dZ: 1, Press the Enter key
• Select the Attribute tab from the Properties pop-up window.
– For the Value of Name type: cube
– Click the OK button
• To fit the view:
– Select the menu item View > Fit All > Active View. Or press CTRL+D

6 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Example – RCS of a Cube
• Creating the Plane Wave Excitation
• Make sure object cube is not selected by selecting the menu item Edit > Deselect All
• Select the menu item HFSS-IE > Excitations >Assign > Incident Wave > Plane Incident Wave
– Vector Input Format: Spherical
• Click the Next button
– IWavePhi – Start: 0 deg, Step: 1 deg, Stop: 90 deg
– IWaveTheta – Start: 90 deg, Step: 0 deg, Stop: 90 deg
– Eo vector – Phi: 0V/m, Theta: 1 V/m
• Click the Next button
• Click the Finish button

• Viewing the Plane Wave Excitation

• The Incident Plane Wave excitation can be viewed by selecting the
IncPWave1 in the Excitation section of the Project tree

7 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Analysis Setup
• Analysis Setup
• Select the menu item HFSS-IE > Analysis Setup > Add Solution
Setup
– Click the General tab:
• Solution Frequency: 0.43 GHz
• Maximum Number of Passes: 8
• Maximum Residual Error: 0.05
– Click HPC and Analysis Options button
• Make sure that all cores available are used
• Edit HPC and Analysis configuration if necessary
– With active configuration chosen, click Edit button
• Use Automatic Settings:  Checked
– Click the Ok button to save Analysis Configuration
• Click the Ok button to apply active Analysis
Configuration
– Click the OK button

Note: Number of cores are determined based on hardware

and licensing options. For classroom settings, use 4.

8 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Create a Radiation Setup

• Create a Radiation Setup

• Select the menu item HFSS-IE > Radiation > Insert Far Field Setup
> Infinite Sphere

– Infinite Sphere Tab

• Name: Infinite Sphere1
• Phi: (Start: 0, Stop: 0, Step Size: 10)
• Theta: (Start: 0, Stop: 0, Step Size: 10)
– Click the OK button

Note: For Monostatic RCS, it is not necessary to be concerned with the Theta
and Phi values defined in the radiation sphere. Only the incident wave angles
IWaveTheta and IWavePhi are used in calculating a Monostatic RCS, and proper
incident angle sweep should exist at the incident wave source setup before
HFSS can plot a Monostatic RCS. It is actually easier in the plotting stage to
define only one observation angle in the far field sphere setup here.

9 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Example – RCS of a Cube
• Save Project
• Select the menu item File > Save As.
– Filename: Cube_RCS
– Click the Save button

• Model Validation
• Select the menu item HFSS-IE > Validation Check
– Click the Close button
• Note: To view any errors or warning messages,
use the Message Manager.

• Analyze
• Select the menu item HFSS-IE > Analyze All

• Solution Data
• Select the menu item HFSS-IE > Results > Solution Data
• To view the Profile, Click the Profile Tab.
• To view the Convergence, Click the Convergence Tab
– Note: The default view is for convergence is Table. Select the Plot radio button to view a graphical representations of the
convergence data.
• To view the Mesh Statistics, Click the Mesh Statistics Tab.
– Click the Close button

10 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0

Results
• Create RCS plot
• Select the menu item HFSS-IE > Results > Create Far Fields Report > Rectangular Plot
– Solution: Setup1: LastAdaptive
– Geometry: Infinite Sphere1
– Primary Sweep: IWavePhi
– Category: MonostaticRCS
– Quantity: MonostaticRCSTheta
– Function: dB
– Click the New Report button
• Click the Close button
Note: the result shown in Decibels relative to a square meter
or dBsm as shown on the graph from the reference paper.

11 © 2016 ANSYS, Inc. December 22, 2015 Release 2016.0