Capacitance and surface charge distribution computations for a satellite modeled as a rectangular cuboid and two plates

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a method to evaluate the capacitance and the surface charge distributions of a satellite modeled as a structure consisting of a rectangular cuboid with two coplanar rectangular plates. The Charges accumulate on the satellite surfaces result destructive electrostatic discharges (ESD). Integral equations are formed by relating the unknown charge density on the metallic cuboid and the two rectangular plates to the potential on the surface of these bodies. The integral equations are solved using the Method of Moments (MoM) based on pulse function as basis functions and delta functions as testing functions. In order to apply MoM, the surfaces of the metallic bodies are discretized by using non-uniform rectangular subsections. The numerical data on capacitance of this structure have been presented. The key results are that the computational method is validated by computing the capacitance of a cuboid to be 73.46 pF/m, which is consistent with previous works. Faster convergence and shorter computational time are achieved using non-uniform subsections. And, as expected, the surface charge density diminishes at joints where the plates connect to the cuboid.