Computational Electromagnetics

Computational simulations of electromagnetic-aerodynamic interactions must be built on the capability of computational electromagnetics (CEM) that has a tier structure for solving the Maxwell equations. This chapter focuses on introducing the characteristic-based finite-volume and finite-difference methods. The multidimensional equations are required to be split into multiple one-dimensional space-time formulations. The finite size of computer memory compels all computations to be conducted in a truncated computational domain, thus introducing an artificial boundary to the numerical simulation. Numerous boundary conditions have been developed to annihilate the nonphysical reflected waves from the numerical boundary. For simulating wave motion, the compatibility condition at any point in space is described by the split flux vector. The finite-volume approximation satisfies the governing equation over an elementary volume that bounded by six control surface perpendicular to three coordinates. The computational efficiency of a numerical procedure is another consideration for selecting simulation tools.