A Hybrid Time-Domain Technique That Combines the Finite Element, Finite Difference and Method of Moment Techniques to Solve Complex Electromagnetic Problems

Abstract

This paper describes a hybrid technique directly operating in time domain that combines the finite element time domain (FETD), the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) and the integral-equation-based method of moments in the time domain (MoMTD) techniques to analyze complex electromagnetic problems involving thin-wire antennas radiating in the presence of inhomogeneous dielectric bodies whose shape can be arbitrary. The method brings together the ability of the FDTD scheme to deal with arbitrary material properties, the versatility of the FETD to accurately model curved geometries, and that of the MoM to analyze thin-wire structures. Working in the time domain provides wide-band information from a single execution of the marching-on-in-time procedure and simplifies the interfacing of the FE and MoM methods with the FDTD, an approach specifically designed for time domain analysis. Numerical results that validate the hybrid method and show its capabilities are presented in the paper.