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C omput i ng C a pa c i t a nc e
Introduction
A capacitor, in its simplest form, is a two terminal electrical device that stores electric
energy when a voltage difference is applied across the terminals. The stored electric
energy is proportional to the applied voltage squared and is quantified by the
capacitance of the device. This model introduces a model of a simple capacitor, the
electric field and device capacitance are solved for under electrostatic conditions.
V
Dielectric
Metal plates and leads
Figure 1: A simple capacitor composed of a disk of dielectric with metal plates on either
side, and lead wires.
Model Definition
The capacitor being modeled is shown in Figure 1, two metal disks, with leads, are
separated by a disk of dielectric material. Since there can be significant fringing fields
around the capacitor plates, an air volume is also included in the model. The size of
this air volume truncates the modeling space. In actuality, the fringing fields extend to
infinity, but they drop off in proportion to the inverse square of the distance so they
rapidly become so small as to become numerically insignificant. It is here assumed that
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the air volume is large enough to accurately capture the fringing fields, this could be
checked by increasing the air volume size an comparing solutions.
Under the assumption of electrostatic conditions, the entire surface of each electrode
must be at the same potential, otherwise current would flow through these
conductors. The other domains in this model, the air and dielectric, are assumed to be
perfect insulators. It is the voltage and electric fields in these domains that is being
solved for.
Results and Discussion
The electric field is plotted in Figure 2. The field is relatively uniform between the
plates, but some strong variations are seen at the edges of the plates. The fringing fields
are observed to extend a small distance away from the capacitor. The capacitance of the
device is evaluated to be approximately 43 pF. A slice plot of the voltage field shows
that there is an isosurface of voltage exactly midway between the capacitor plates.
Figure 2: The electric field strength in the dielectric and air domain surrounding the
capacitor.
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Figure 3: Contours of the voltage field at a slice through the center of the capacitor.
Model Library path: ACDC_Module/Capacitive_Devices/capacitor_dc
Modeling Instructions
From the File menu, choose New.
N E W
1 In the New window, click the Model Wizard button.
MO D E L WI Z A R D
1 In the Model Wizard window, click the 3D button.
2 In the Select physics tree, select AC/DC>Electrostatics (es).
3 Click the Add button.
4 Click the Study button.
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5 In the tree, select Preset Studies>Stationary.
6 Click the Done button.
G E O ME T R Y 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 click Geometry 1.
2 In the Geometry settings window, locate the Units section.
3 From the Length unit list, choose cm.
First, create a cylinder for the model domain.
Cylinder 1
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Cylinder.
2 In the Cylinder settings window, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Radius edit field, type 20.
4 In the Height edit field, type 20.
5 Click the Build Selected button.
Choose wireframe rendering to get a better view of the interior parts.
6 Click the Wireframe Rendering button on the Graphics toolbar.
Add a cylinder for the disc of dielectric with two metal plates.
Cylinder 2
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Cylinder.
2 In the Cylinder settings window, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Radius edit field, type 10.
4 In the Height edit field, type 4.
5 Locate the Position section. In the z edit field, type 8.
6 Click to expand the Layers section. In the table, enter the following settings:
7 Clear the Layers on side check box.
8 Select the Layers on bottom and the Layers on top check boxes.
Finish the geometry creation by adding two cylinders for the leads.
Cylinder 3
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Cylinder.
Layer name Thickness (cm)
Layer 1 5[mm]
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2 In the Cylinder settings window, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Radius edit field, type 0.75.
4 In the Height edit field, type 8.
Cylinder 4
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Cylinder.
2 In the Cylinder settings window, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Radius edit field, type 0.75.
4 In the Height edit field, type 8.
5 Locate the Position section. In the z edit field, type 12.
6 Click the Build All Objects button.
The model is composed of a disc of dielectric, with metal plates on either side, and lead
wires.
D E F I N I T I O N S
Create a set of selections to use when setting up the physics. First, create a selection for
the metal domain.
Explicit 1
1 On the Definitions toolbar, click Explicit.
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2 Select Domains 2 and 46 only.
3 Right-click Component 1>Definitions>Explicit 1 and choose Rename.
4 Go to the Rename Explicit dialog box and type Metal in the New name edit field.
5 Click OK.
Add a selection for the model domain.
Complement 1
1 On the Definitions toolbar, click Complement.
2 In the Complement settings window, locate the Input Entities section.
3 Under Selections to invert, click Add.
4 Go to the Add dialog box.
5 In the Selections to invert list, select Metal.
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6 Click the OK button.
7 Right-click Component 1>Definitions>Complement 1 and choose Rename.
8 Go to the Rename Complement dialog box and type Model domain in the New name
edit field.
9 Click OK.
Add a selection for the ground boundaries.
Explicit 2
1 On the Definitions toolbar, click Explicit.
2 In the Explicit settings window, locate the Input Entities section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary.
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4 Select Boundaries 57, 10, 15, 16, 24, 27, 29, and 31 only.
5 Right-click Component 1>Definitions>Explicit 2 and choose Rename.
6 Go to the Rename Explicit dialog box and type Ground boundaries in the New name
edit field.
7 Click OK.
Add a selection for the terminal boundaries.
Explicit 3
1 On the Definitions toolbar, click Explicit.
2 In the Explicit settings window, locate the Input Entities section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary.
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4 Select Boundaries 1114, 19, 20, 26, 28, 30, and 33 only.
5 Right-click Component 1>Definitions>Explicit 3 and choose Rename.
6 Go to the Rename Explicit dialog box and type Terminal boundaries in the New
name edit field.
7 Click OK.
View 1
To get a better view, suppress some of the boundaries.
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1>Definitions right-click View 1 and
choose Hide Geometric Entities.
2 In the Hide Geometric Entities settings window, locate the Geometric Entity Selection
section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary.
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4 Select Boundaries 1, 4, and 23 only.
E L E C T R O S T A T I C S
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 click Electrostatics.
2 In the Electrostatics settings window, locate the Domain Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Model domain.
Ground 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Ground.
2 In the Ground settings window, locate the Boundary Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Ground boundaries.
Terminal 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Terminal.
2 In the Terminal settings window, locate the Boundary Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Terminal boundaries.
4 Locate the Terminal section. From the Terminal type list, choose Voltage.
MA T E R I A L S
Next, assign material properties. Begin by specifying air for all domains.
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Material.
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A D D MA T E R I A L
1 Go to the Add Material window.
2 In the tree, select Built-In>Air.
3 In the Add material window, click Add to Component.
MA T E R I A L S
Air
Override the dielectric disc with glass (quartz).
A D D MA T E R I A L
1 Go to the Add Material window.
2 In the tree, select Built-In>Glass (quartz).
3 In the Add material window, click Add to Component.
MA T E R I A L S
Glass (quartz)
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1>Materials click Glass (quartz).
2 Select Domain 3 only.
3 Close the Add Material window.
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ME S H 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 right-click Mesh 1 and choose Build
All.
S T U D Y 1
1 In the Model Builder window, click Study 1.
2 In the Study settings window, locate the Study Settings section.
3 Clear the Generate default plots check box.
4 On the Home toolbar, click Compute.
R E S U L T S
Derived Values
The Terminal feature automatically computes the capacitance. The computed value is
available in a global variable and can be accessed using a Global Evaluation node.
1 On the Results toolbar, click Global Evaluation.
2 In the Global Evaluation settings window, click Replace Expression in the upper-right
corner of the Expression section. From the menu, choose
Electrostatics>Terminals>Capacitance (es.C11).
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3 Click the Evaluate button.
The computed capacitance should be around 43 pF.
Data Sets
Add a solution and define a selection for the metal part.
1 On the Results toolbar, click More Data Sets and choose Solution.
2 In the Model Builder window, under Results>Data Sets right-click Solution 2 and
choose Add Selection.
3 In the Selection settings window, locate the Geometric Entity Selection section.
4 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Domain.
5 From the Selection list, choose Metal.
6 Select the Propagate to lower dimensions check box.
3D Plot Group 1
1 On the Results toolbar, click 3D Plot Group.
You can visualize the metal parts, which do no belong to the modeling domain, by
choosing Uniform for the coloring type even though there is no solution. Add a
surface plot for this purpose.
2 On the 3D Plot Group 1 toolbar, click Surface.
3 In the Surface settings window, locate the Data section.
4 From the Data set list, choose Solution 2.
5 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Coloring list, choose Uniform.
6 From the Color list, choose Gray.
Add a slice plot for the norm of the electric fields and an arrow plot for the electric
fields.
7 On the 3D Plot Group 1 toolbar, click Slice.
8 In the Slice settings window, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of the
Expression section. From the menu, choose Electrostatics>Electric>Electric field norm
(es.normE).
9 Locate the Plane Data section. In the Planes edit field, type 1.
10 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Color table list, choose RainbowLight.
11 On the 3D Plot Group 1 toolbar, click Arrow Volume.
12 In the Arrow Volume settings window, locate the Arrow Positioning section.
13 Find the x grid points subsection. In the Points edit field, type 1.
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14 Find the y grid points subsection. In the Points edit field, type 11.
15 Find the z grid points subsection. In the Points edit field, type 11.
16 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Arrow length list, choose Logarithmic.
17 Right-click Results>3D Plot Group 1>Arrow Volume 1 and choose Color Expression.
18 In the Color Expression settings window, locate the Coloring and Style section.
19 Clear the Color legend check box.
20 Click the Go to YZ View button on the Graphics toolbar.
21 Click the Zoom Extents button on the Graphics toolbar.
The plot should look like that in Figure 2.
Data Sets
Create a cut plane on which you will add contour plots for the electric potential.
1 On the Results toolbar, click Cut Plane. Leave all the settings to their default values.
2D Plot Group 2
1 On the Results toolbar, click 2D Plot Group. The plot group will automatically use
the first available 2D data set, which is Cut Plane 1.
2 On the 2D Plot Group 2 toolbar, click Contour.
3 In the Contour settings window, locate the Levels section.
4 From the Entry method list, choose Levels.
5 In the Levels edit field, type range(0,0.1,1).
6 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Contour type list, choose Filled.
7 From the Color table list, choose RainbowLight.
Add a second Contour plot with solid black lines to highlight the levels.
8 On the 2D Plot Group 2 toolbar, click Contour.
9 In the Contour settings window, locate the Levels section.
10 From the Entry method list, choose Levels.
11 In the Levels edit field, type range(0,0.1,1).
12 Locate the Coloring and Style section. Select the Level labels check box.
13 From the Coloring list, choose Uniform.
14 From the Color list, choose Black.
15 Clear the Color legend check box.
16 On the 2D plot group toolbar, click Plot.
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17 Click the Zoom Extents button on the Graphics toolbar.
Compare the resulting plot with Figure 3.
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