Boundary Element Method Analysis of Multi-Conductor Systems Made of Thin Conductors in 2-D

In this paper, the Boundary Element Method is used to build 2-D magnetic-harmonic models for multi-conductor systems made of thin conductors. The presented BEM models are much more computationally efficient than the equivalent Finite Element Method models. The proposed models allows the computations of the field quantities and of the circuit parameters of the multi-conductor system. Two approaches are presented, i) the shell approach, for cases where the current density varies across the thickness of the conductor, and ii) the strip approach, for cases where the current density is uniform across the thickness of the conductor. It is demonstrated that the strip approach leads to a significant simplification of the calculations. Voltages and currents are included directly in the system variables and outputs, respectively, avoiding the need for additional post-processing steps. The efficiency of the proposed models is important in cases including a large number of conductors, especially if frequency sweeps are required.