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Electrostatic simulation using XFEM for conductor and dielectric interfaces
Author(s) -
Rochus Véronique,
Van Miegroet Laurent,
Rixen Daniel J.,
Duysinx Pierre
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/nme.2998
Subject(s) - finite element method , electrostatics , computation , boundary value problem , dimension (graph theory) , conductor , dielectric , electric field , domain (mathematical analysis) , boundary element method , extended finite element method , interface (matter) , computer science , mechanical engineering , mathematical analysis , engineering , physics , mathematics , mechanics , electrical engineering , structural engineering , geometry , algorithm , bubble , quantum mechanics , maximum bubble pressure method , pure mathematics
Many Micro‐Electro‐Mechanical Systems (e.g. RF‐switches, micro‐resonators and micro‐rotors) involve mechanical structures moving in an electrostatic field. For this type of problems, it is required to evaluate accurately the electrostatic forces acting on the devices. Extended Finite Element (X‐FEM) approaches can easily handle moving boundaries and interfaces in the electrostatic domain and seem therefore very suitable to model Micro‐Electro‐Mechanical Systems. In this study we investigate different X‐FEM techniques to solve the electrostatic problem when the electrostatic domain is bounded by a conducting material. Preliminary studies in one‐dimension have shown that one can obtain good results in the computation of electrostatic potential using X‐FEM. In this paper the extension of these preliminary studies to 2D problem is presented. In particular, a new type of enrichment functions is proposed in order to treat accurately Dirichlet boundary conditions on the interface. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.