Electrodynamics

Publications

Design Characterization of Microwave Antenna BGA Interconnect Structure Using Test-Validated Physics

D.A. Pietila, M. Rassaian, K. Brice-Heames

Researchers evaluated a two-component solder BGA structure for attaching a microwave receiver module to a phased array antenna. They used a plastic-strain damage model and finite element analysis to characterize and improve the solder's fatigue life, finding that reducing the encapsulant's CTE significantly extended its durability.

Discrete Time Vector Finite Element Methods for Solving Maxwell's Equations on 3D Unstructured Grids

Daniel Arthur White

This dissertation develops and analyzes the Discrete Time Vector Finite Element Method, a provably stable and conserving method for solving Maxwell's equations on 3D unstructured grids. The approach uses complementary covariant and contravariant vector finite elements to accurately model the electric and magnetic fields, respectively. The method was implemented in the VFEM3D software and successfully validated against analytical solutions for various electromagnetic problems.