CST2013: Staircase Mesh

The  Perfect Boundary Approximation (PBA) allows a very accurate simulation of solids with arbitrarily curved surfaces.

Staircase Mesh

However, imported shapes sometimes produce errors while the mesher is setting up the material matrix after the solver start. Normally this can be solved by the built-in healing tools.

To simulate a surface structure or an imported shape that cannot be healed, select the appropriate object in the navigation tree and choose the Staircase Mesh option as the meshing type in Mesh: Mesh ControlLocal Properties .

In contrast to PBA mesh, this classic finite difference scheme allows only one material in a mesh cell. If the shape consists of PEC material, a thin sheet mesh is used. For a non-PEC material, the surface is represented by staircase mesh cells:

The default meshing type can be defined in the mesh properties dialog. The human model will also be meshed with the staircase mesh type.

Mesh Priority

If there is more than one material located in one mesh cell, the mesh priority setting controls the material property of this cell. The mesh priority is a real value that can be defined for each shape in the Mesh: Mesh ControlLocal Properties or in the human model dialog.

The material with the higher priority determines the cell's material property. Staircase mesh material with the same priority overwrites PBA material. Human model material always dominates other staircase or PBA material with the same priority.

Note: If you have a PEC PBA material, e.g., when the background material is set to PEC, this material cannot be substituted by a normal staircase mesh or human model material. Choose a normal material as background material or remove this PEC material.