In addition to metals and solid dielectric materials, CST MICROSTRIPES is capable of modelling highly conducting thin materials. These thin panels differ from metal panels in that they are penetrable to electromagnetic fields. They differ from solid dielectrics in that they may be simulated accurately despite having such extreme conductivity that the skin-depth is small compared with the cell-size.
Suitable applications for thin panels include carbon-fibre panels on vehicles, carbon-loaded and metal-sputtered surfaces of dielectric bodies, and radome covers over horns and antennas. If penetration through the panel may be neglected, then metal sheets should be used instead.
The Simulator models the panel as a number of layers so that the frequency dependence of the skin-depth and wavelength is reproduced.
In Build, only bodies consisting of surfaces with no thickness should be specified as being thin panels. The actual thickness of the panel is taken as an electrical parameter (along with the permittivity, permeability and conductivity), and is disregarded as a geometric property.
The computer resources required to model thin panels are proportional to the number of cell faces covered with the panel (or roughly to the total area of panel), and to the number of skin-depths in the thickness of the panel (at the maximum model frequency). If thin panels are specified which are very many skin-depths thick, then the computer memory usage and run-time can become excessive. Since the penetration through many skin-depths is likely to be negligible, metal panels should be used instead (or a lower maximum frequency specified).