Multiphysics Modeling in Electromagnetics: Technical Challenges and Potential Solutions

As computational methods for solving Maxwell's equations mature, we can now start to tackle much more challenging multiphysics problems that have numerous applications in science and technology fields. In this article, we use four examples to illustrate the nature and modeling of multiphysics problems. The first example is related to electromagnetic (EM) hyperthermia for cancer treatment, which requires solving EM and bioheat transfer equations for the planning and optimization of the treatment process. The second example concerns the heat problem in integrated circuits (ICs) due to EM dissipated power, its effects, and a potential cooling solution, which requires an electrical-thermal-fluid-mechanical cosimulation. The third example considers modeling of monolithic microwave ICs (MMICs), which consist of both distributive and lumped circuit components. The fourth example simulates the air and dielectric breakdown in high-power microwave devices by coupling EM modeling with various plasma models. With these examples, we detail some of the technical challenges typically encountered in multiphysics modeling and their potential solutions.