Magnetic field integral equation at very low frequencies

Abstract

It is known that there is a low-frequency breakdown problem when the method of moments (MOM) with Rao-Wilton-Glisson (RWG) basis is used in the electric field integral equation (EFIE); it can be solved through the loop and tree basis decomposition. The behavior of the magnetic field integral equation (MFIE) at very low frequencies is investigated using MOM, where two approaches are presented based on the RWG basis and loop and tree bases. The study shows that MFIE can be solved by the conventional MOM with the RWG basis at arbitrarily low frequencies, but there exists an accuracy problem in the real part of the electric current. Although the error in the current distribution is small, it results in a large error in the far-field computation. This is because a big cancellation occurs during the far field computation. The source of error in the current distribution is easily detected through the MOM analysis using the loop and tree basis decomposition. To eliminate the error, a perturbation method is proposed, from which a very accurate real part of the tree current has been obtained. Using the perturbation method, the error in the far-field computation is also removed. Numerical examples show that both the current distribution and the far field can be accurately computed at extremely low frequencies by the proposed method.