HFSS15: Solving Inside or on the Surface

For HFSS designs, when you assign a material to an object, you can specify whether to generate a field solution inside the object or on the surface of the object. If you elect to generate a solution inside the object, HFSS will create a mesh inside the object and generate a solution from the mesh. If you elect to generate a solution on the surface of the object, HFSS will create only a surface mesh for the object.

If you want a solution to be generated inside an object, select Solve Inside in the Properties window. Conversely, if you want a solution to only be generated on the surface of an object, clear the Solve Inside option in the Properties window.

By default, Solve Inside is selected for all objects with a bulk conductivity less than 10⁵ siemens/meter and for perfect insulators. By default, the Solve Inside option in the Properties window is clear for perfect conductors.

To change the threshold for solving inside objects, do the following:

1. Click Tools>Options> HFSS Options.

2. Under the General tab, enter a new value in the Solve Inside threshold text box.

HFSS implicitly places a finite conductivity boundary condition on the surfaces of an object that should not be solved inside based on the material properties of that object. You can also incorporate a DC Thickness for the implicit boundary condition by setting an appropriate thickness value as described in Assigning DC Thickness.