HFSS

HFSS is a 3-D electromagnetic simulation tool. It allows you to study the

electromagnetic response of various 3-D objects. The following tutorial is an example of
how to simulate a microstrip using HFSS. It will cover all the steps necessary to run a
full simulation and analyze the results. The purpose of the tutorial is to familiarize you
with some of the basic features of HFSS. This tutorial was made using HFSS 8.5 and
may not match other version of HFSS.

I. Opening HFSS
The way to start HFSS is through the Maxwell control panel.
The icon for the Maxwell program can be seen in the figure
to the right.
Once the Maxwell control panel is opened you will a row of buttons that
will launch several different programs. Press the button PROJECTS to
start a new project or continue working on a saved project. This opens
the Maxwell project window.
The Maxwell project window is where you can open, create, and copy your projects.
There are several options here but for now we will just focus on four of them.
The Add button in the project Directories window allows you to create a new directory
to store your project in. You may wish to do this before you start your tutorial so that all
your projects will have their own folder. Projects can always be moved or deleted later
on so dont worry too much about what you put in your folder. Once you press Add
you will be prompted to enter an alias for the new project Directory. This is simply the
name of your folder. If you wish you can create this folder in the current directory or in a
new directory. In HFSS you wont see other projects in the same directory if they are in
separate folders. Create a new folder if you want to make it easier to identify your
project files for copying off the computer.
The New button allows you to create a new project. Press this button now. You will
be prompted to enter a name for the project. Next select Ansoft High Frequency
Structure Simulator from the scroll down menu. Enter a name in the Created By field
and uncheck the Open project upon creation box. Then press OK.
Your project should now appear highlighted
in the project window. On the right side of
the screen you should see the project name,
author, and type of simulation listed. The
current status of the project is Writable.
After you open the project then this status
will change to Locked indicating that the project is currently open and the files should not
be accessed. If you program crashes then this is a problem. The Recover button in the

lower right hand side of the screen allows you to open a locked project. When you
recover a locked project it will warn you that this may cause data corruption and or
project failure. If you program has already crashed then you wont care, press Yes.
Now you can press Open and start your project. This
finally brings up the HFSS program where you can
create your microstrip example.
On the left side of the screen is a row of buttons that
can be seen in the figure to the right. These buttons are
arranged in the order that you must follow to make your
simulation.
Select Driven Solution from the scroll down list on the
first button. The other option is Eigenmode solution,
which is used for calculating the resonance of an object.
The next button is Draw Press this button to launch
the 3D Modeler. The 3D Modeler allows you to draw
the geometry of the object that you wish to simulate.
Directions for drawing the microstrip

II. The 3D Modeler (Draw)

The 3D Modeler is where you will describe all the geometry of the object that you wish
to simulate. As soon as you start the 3D Modeler you will be prompted to select the units
you want your drawing to be in. Selecting the units will effect how the simulation runs
so make sure to follow the guidelines at the prompt. The units can be changed later on if
you make a mistake by selecting Options/Units from the menu.
There are several different methods
available for drawing your object. The
menu items Lines, Surfaces, and Solids
encompass most of the drawing tools that
you will want to use. But before we start
drawing here is a quick over view of what
the typical microstrip that we modeling
looks like.
The model we are using for the microstrip
will be composed of an air box, two ports, a
substrate, and a flat transmission line.
The first thing that we will draw is the air box. This object will need to be big enough
that it will allow the ports to fit in it. Ansofts rule of thumb for sizing ports depends on

the height of the substrate and the width of the transmission line (TL). Guidelines for
sizing ports follow below:
Table #1 Port Sizing Guidelines
TL width > Sub. height
Port Height
10 * Sub. height
Port Width
10 * TL width

TL width < Sub. height

10 * Sub height
5 * TL width

We will be using 1.57mm for the substrate height and 4.71mm for the transmission line
thickness. 4.71mm thickness for the transmission line on this substrate corresponds to
50 characteristic impedance.
The characteristic impedance or transmission line width can be found by using the
Transmission Line Designer (TRL) in Serenade. To access this tool simple open
Serenade (you do not have to start a project) and then click on Tool/Transmission
Lines on the menu. This will open up the TRL and allow you to calculate either
characteristic impedance of transmission line width.
Now that we know the transmission line dimensions we can determine that the port sizes
will be 15.7mm high by 47.1mm wide. From these numbers we will pick a slightly larger
air box of 20mm x 100mm x 100mm.
To draw this air box we select Solids/Box from the 3D
Modeler menu. Set the values in the upper left hand corner
of the screen to:
Enter: X = 0, Y = 0, Z = 0
This is under the Abs. [mm] menu and can be seen in the figure to the right. This tutorial
will be done using Abs. [mm] instead of Rel. [mm].
This represents one corner of the box that we wish to draw. Now press the Enter button
to go on and pick the size of the box. The next prompt will ask you to enter box size.
You can enter positive or negative values in this window. A positive X: value
corresponds to a point that is further along the positive X-axis then the base vertex. A
negative value is a point further along the negative X-axis then the base vertex.
Enter: X=100, Y=100, Z=20, Name = air
There is also a color box that can be clicked on to select a color for the wire frame of the
object. Press enter and then the box will appear in the viewing windows. Pressing f
will auto-zoom all the windows in on the object.
The next step is to create the substrate. This will also be done using the box tool. Select
Solids/Box and then enter the following:

Enter:
X=0, Y=0, Z=0
Press Enter
X=100, Y=100, Z=1.57, Name = substrate (you may want to choose a different color
from air boxs color)
Press Enter
Notice now that we have created a solid object that is enclosed within another. This is
allowed ONLY because one object is completely enclosed within the other. In this case
HFSS will chose the attributes of the inside object over the outside one when assigning
properties to the solid. You are not allowed to have an object that exists inside the space
of more then one object.
The last two objects that you will create will be flat objects. While this is a 3D
electromagnetic simulator it can be very useful (and faster) to be able to model some
object, such as the transmission line, as flat.
First create the transmission line. Select Lines/Rectangle from the menu.
Enter:
X=0, Y=0, Z=1.57
Press Enter
Rectangle Plane = (XY), X=100, Y=4.71, Covered = (checked), Name = TL, (select
color)
Press Enter
The reason for selecting covered is to indicate that this is a 2D sheet object and not 4
lines connected together. Now we have the correct transmission line down but it is in the
wrong place. To move the TL object select Edit/Select and then a list of objects will
appear on the left side of the screen. Highlight TL and press Enter. The TL object
will change to a pink color; this means that it is currently selected. Note that if you hold
down the control key that you can select multiple objects at once.
Select Arrange/Move from the menu. You are then prompted to enter a vector that
describes where to move the TL. When you enter your vector you will see an arrow
indicating the direction that the object will move on the screen. We want to center the TL
at Y=50mm so we will move it in the Y-direction by 50mm TL width / 2.
Enter: X=0, Y=47.645, Z=0
Press enter and the TL will move to the center of the square. If you want to check the
coordinate of your object at any time you can do so by doing the following. Next to the
line Snap to: check the Vertex box. Then click on the corner of any of your objects.
The coordinates of that point will appear in the window in the upper left-hand corner of
the screen.

The last step is to draw the two ports following the guidelines mentioned earlier. We
already calculated the size of the port to be 15.7mm high by 47.1mm wide. Select the
Lines/Rectangle again and enter the following:
Enter:
X=0, Y=(-23.55), Z=0
Press Enter
Rectangle Plane = (YZ), Y=47.1, Z=15.7, Covered = (checked), Name = port1, (select
color)
Press Enter
Select Edit/Select from the menu
Highlight port1, Press OKAY
Select Arrange/Move from the menu
X=0, Y=50, Z=0
Press Enter
Now that we have one port created lets take advantage of the fact that it is identical in
geometry to the next port that we want to create. Enter the following instruction to copy
the port.
(Make sure that only port1 is selected)
Enter:
Select Edit/Copy from the menu
Select Edit/Paste from the menu
Select Edit/Select from the menu
Highlight port2, Press OKAY
Select Arrange/Move from the menu
X=100, Y=0, Z=0
Press Enter
Now it is clear that when we copied port1 that an identical port was created at exactly
the same position as port1.
We are now finished drawing the model so select File/Exit and then press YES to save
the model that you just created.

III. Setup Materials

Now select the Setup Materials button from the executive command list. A picture of
the model and a list of all 3D objects that you have created will appear in the windows.
This is where you will be able to specify the physical characteristic of these objects.
There are a few parameters that describe the material of the 3D object. These are , ,
conductivity, electric loss tangent and magnetic loss tangent.
First select air from the list of object
available. Next scroll down the list below

this last window to find the material vacuum. When you find this highlight it and press
the Assign button.
Now the air box has the material vacuum assigned to it. The substrate that are using,
Rogers Duroid 5870, is not on the list of materials so we will have to derive it.
To derive a material click on the Material button, then select Derive. You should notice
that a new material is select with name of type MatrialXX and that its definition is
local. Enter the following values to the material parameters:
Eps = 2.33
Mu = 1
Leave all the other parameter set to zero. Click in the box on the name MatrialXX
which is directly to the left of the Mu box. You can type in a new, more descriptive
name for your material. Change the name to something that better reflects the material,
such as Duroid5870. When you are finished press the Enter button to save the
characteristics.
Now that you have created your Duroid material, select it from the list of materials. Next
select substrate from the list of object and press the Assign button.
You are now done assign material properties. Click the exit button and then press Yes to
save changes.

IV. Setup Boundaries/Sources

The 3D Boundary/Source Manager allows you to define boundary conditions for your 2D
sheet objects as well as your 3D objects. You will also specify your ports here.
We will start by specifying our ports. In the boundary manager, ports will always have
the highest priority. Any overlap between a port and another boundary will be classified
as a port and not a boundary.
First select the Source radio button and then select Port from the drop down menu.

Now select the face of object that you want to be classified as a port. This can be done
two ways. The First way is by pointing at the object and clicking. The second is by
selecting for a list of object faces.
To select by face, select Edit/Select/By Name from the menu and then highlight port1.
You should now see one face listed under faces. Select that face and then click done.
You will now notice in the model view that one of the ports has a pink grid on it. This is
how you can tell with object face you have selected. Click on the Assign button and now

the port will show up in the boundary/source list on the right side of your screen. You
can make changes to the port at any time by reselecting it off of this list.
Next will select the port by clicking. First check to make sure that no
boundary/sources are selected. This can be done by checking the model
view or by pressing the deselect button. The deselect button looks like a
circle with a line through it. In the middle of the circle are the letters SEL.
If you cannot see the port you want to select clearly then you can rotate the view of your
model. Rotating the view can be done my moving the mouse over the model view
window and right clicking the mouse. A menu will come up; select Rotate, now the icon
for the mouse pointer is in the shape of a curving arrow. This means that you are in
rotation mode. Left click and hold somewhere on the model view and then move the
mouse. Rotating can be tricky, if you lose your object then press f to re-center it.
Practice a little and then make sure to get the second port in view. Right click once in the
model view at any time to return to the standard pointer.
Move your mouse over the port that was not highlighted last time. Click the mouse
button on the port. You may notice that the pink grid is not overlapping your port, or that
it is overlapping more then your port. By pressing the n key you can select the next
object behind where you just clicked. Do this until just your port is highlighted. Check
to see that the name is port2, if not, change it. Click Assign when you are done.
Next select the TL object that we created before. Use any method to select this. Now
change the radio button to Boundary and then select Prefect E from the pull down menu.
Change the name of the boundary to TL and then click Assign.
Prefect E is used to simulate metals. While metals do normally not exhibit zero E-field at
their surface it is close enough that it is a useful approximation for a metal. In HFSS
many times if you do not assign a boundary to a face it will be automatically treated as a
Perfect E. Make sure to define all the boundaries you need to, to avoid mistakes.
Now select the bottom face of the substrate object (the negative Z side). Assign it a
property of Perfect E and check the infinite ground plane box. Change the name to
something like GND and then click Assign.
Now we are finished with assigning boundaries/sources. There is however, one more
step left. That is to provide an impedance line and a calibration line for both of our ports.
The purpose of an impedance line is to help HFSS calculate the characteristic impedance.
The purpose of a calibration line is to help define a phase at the port so it is not arbitrary.
First select port1. To set the impedance line, check the use impedance line box and
then select Edit Line/Set from the pull down menu in the same area.

Enter:
X=0, Y=50, Z=0
Press Enter
(for vector length) X=0, Y=0, Z=1.57
Press Enter
To set the calibration line, check the use calibration
line and then select Edit Line/Copy Impedance.
Note that the impedance line and calibration lines were defined from the middle of the
port, and they point from the ground plane to the TL. Repeat these steps for port2
making sure to locate the impedance and calibration lines on port2 and not port1.
You have finished describing your model to HFSS now. The next sections describe how
to select the simulation you want and then view the results.

IV. Post Process