ANSYS Releases Icewave 1.1

By DE Editors

ANSYS (Southpointe, PA) has recently released version 1.1 of its Icewave electromagnetic compatibility and interference (EMC/EMI) analysis software. This newest version of Icewave incorporates enhanced model-building capabilities and radiation computation for EMC/EMI analysis of electronic systems.

Icewave and Icepak technologies allow designers of high-performance electronics systems to reduce time from concept to market by simulating electronic design in a single CAD environment. Both products are now part of the ANSYS suite, resulting from the company’s recent acquisition of Fluent Inc.

Using a 3D full-wave finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solver, Icewave software solves broadband electromagnetic emission and interference problems and generates both transient and frequency-domain results in a single run. In Icewave 1.1, real-world EMC scan and antenna measurements in both near field and far field can be computed by using a fast transformation. The shielding effectiveness of the investigated models may be calculated on demand. The introduction of surface impedance boundary condition for coatings and resistive wires allows users to model finite thickness conductor losses in high-frequency simulations.

New model building features in Icewave 1.1 software include intuitive mouse-driven snapping capabilities to resize, reposition, and align objects in the model. Through a seamless sharing of the model geometry with Icepak, the EM-thermal co-simulation can be set up in several minutes. According to ANSYS, an optimized mesh generator greatly reduces the loss of accuracy due to the staircase approximation of the model objects. Mesh viewing tools for selected objects can help users to refine the mesh to minimize the computational cost.

In addition, there are new output and postprocessing functionalities — such as voltage probes, current probes, elevated monitor plane fields, cylindrical near field scan, shielding effectiveness, etc. — that can calculate and visualize the wave propagation characteristics. A new 64-bit solver allows users to solve complex systems without being restricted by memory limitations of 32-bit operating systems.

Through its sister products (Icepak and Icepro), Icewave allows for MCAD/ECAD data to be imported in STEP, SAT, IGES, and IDF formats as well as from Pro/E PRT and ASM files.

For more information, visit ansys.com.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.