Analysis of composite materials with periodically aligned inclusions using 3D EM field simulations

In this contribution, the effective permittivity of material compositions with special focus on the influence of periodically aligned inclusions is investigated. Therefore, several electromagnetic simulations on the material under test (MUT), which consists of a homogeneous host material and numerous spherical inclusions, are performed. By means of a rectangular waveguide setup, FDTD-simulations, and accurate permittivity determination algorithms, the MUT's effective, complex permittivity is investigated over a broad frequency range. Moreover, the results of materials with periodically aligned inclusions are compared to materials with fully randomized inclusions that exhibit equal material parameters. Detailed information on the investigation procedure as well as comparisons to theoretical permittivity values, calculated by common mixing equations, are presented and discussed.