PROJECT REPORT

IMPLEMENTATION OF PARALLEL PLATE WAVEGUIDES USING HFSS SOFTWARE

BY
M.Prasanth Reddy
M.Sai Prathap Reddy
T.Vamsi Krishna
V.Sandeep Chowdary

14BEC1126
14BEC1190
14BEC1189
14BEC1011

A report submitted to the

SCHOOL OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the project of the course
of
ECE202 TRANSMISSION LINES AND FIELDS
in
B.Tech. ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VIT UNIVERSITY, CHENNAI

Vandalur Kelambakkam Road
Chennai 600 127
April 2016

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that this project report entitled IMPLEMETAION OF PARALLEL PLATE
WAVEGUIDES USING HFSS SOFTWARE is a bonafide work of Prathap
Reddy(14BEC1190), Vamsi Krishna(14BEC1189), Sandeep Chowdary(14BEC1011), Prasanth
Reddy(14BEC1126) who carried out the Project work under my supervision and guidance.

Prof. Ravi Prakash Dwivedi

Associate Professor
School of Electronics Engineering (SENSE)
VIT University, Chennai

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We wish to express our sincere thanks and deep sense of gratitude to our project guide,
Prof. Ravi Prakash Dwivedi, Associate Professor, School of Electronics Engineering , for
his consistent encouragement and valuable guidance offered to us in a pleasant manner throughout
the course of the project work.
We are extremely grateful to Dr. S.R.S Prabaharan, Dean of the School of Electronics
Engineering, VIT University, for extending the facilities of the School towards our project and for
her unstinting support.
We express our thanks to our Program Chair Dr. R. Manojkumar for his support throughout
the course of this project.
We also take this opportunity to thank all the faculty of the School for their support and their
wisdom imparted to us throughout the course.
We thank our parents, family, and friends for bearing with us throughout the course of our
project and for the opportunity they provided us in undergoing this course in such a prestigious
institution.

CONTENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Abstract
Introduction
Principle of Operation
Parallel plate waveguide
Implementation of parallel plate waveguides using HFSS
i) Create a box
ii) Boundary conditions
iii) Wave port
iv) Solution Frequency Setup
v) Delta S setting
vi) Frequency Sweep
vii) Plotting field results
(1) Electric field magnitude
(2) Electric field vector
(3) Magnetic field magnitude
(4) Magnetic field vector
viii) Graphical results
(1) Propagation constant Vs Frequency plot (2D)
(2) Propagation constant Vs Frequency plot (3D)
6. Cut-off Frequency
7. Conclusion
8. References

ABSTRACT
The parallel waveguide characteristics and field distribution for different modes in an open ended
parallel waveguide when the waveguide is in the free space is computed using HFSS software. The
analysis is made for different parameters. The electric and magnetic fields strengths are analysed
inside a parallel waveguide along with fundamental modal distributions. Simulation analysis is
carried out and the performance of parallel waveguide is studied. Theoretical analysis and
simulation are carried out for waveguide.
Ansoft HFSS 13.0 is a software package for calculating the electromagnetic behaviour of a
structure. Using HFSS, one can compute basic electromagnetic field quantities, characteristic port
impedances and propagation constants.
Keywords- Parallel plate waveguide, HFSS, Field distribution, Propagation constant.
This project is the IMPLEMENTATION OF PARALLEL PLATE WAVEGUIDES USING HFSS
SOFTWARE. In this PROJECT, we describe our experiences of making the parallel plate
waveguide and analyze the waveguide in different aspects like how the electric and magnetic fields
propagate through this parallel plate wave guide in different TE modes. In this HFSS software we
can take any type of material for making the waveguide and we change the conductivity of the
parallel plates etc.,.

INTRODUCTION:
A waveguide is a structure that guides waves, such as electromagnetic
waves or sound waves. They enable a signal to propagate with minimal loss of energy by restricting
expansion to one dimension or two. This is a similar effect to waves of water constrained within a
canal, or why guns have barrels that restrict hot gas expansion to maximize energy transfer to their
bullets. Without the physical constraint of a waveguide, signals will typically dissipate according to
the inverse square law as they expand into three dimensional space. The geometry of a waveguide
reflects its function. Slab waveguides confine energy to travel only in one dimension, fiber or
channel waveguides for two dimensions. The frequency of the transmitted wave also dictates the
shape of a waveguide: an optical fiber guiding high-frequency light will not guide microwaves of a
much lower frequency. As a rule of thumb, the width of a waveguide needs to be of the same order
of magnitude as the wavelength of the guided wave.

PARALLEL PLATE WAVEGUIDE:

The parallel plate waveguide is the simplest type of guide that can support TM
and TE modes; it can also support a TEM mode since it is formed from two flat conducting plates or
strips. Although it is an idealization, understanding the parallel plate guide can be useful because its
operation is similar to that of many other waveguides. The parallel plate guide can also be useful for
modeling the propagation of higher order modes in strip line.
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In the geometry of the parallel plate waveguide of Figure 3.2, the strip width, W is
assumed to be much greater than the separation, d, so that fringing fields and any x variation can be
ignored. A material with permittivity _ and permeability is assumed to fill the region between the
two plates. We will derive solutions for TEM, TM, and TE waves.

WAVEGUIDE MODES
O Transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modes: neither electric nor magnetic field in the direction of
propagation.
o Transverse electric (TE) modes: no electric field in the direction of propagation. These are
sometimes called H modes because there is only a magnetic field along the direction of
propagation (H is the conventional symbol for magnetic field).
o Transverse magnetic (TM) modes: no magnetic field in the direction of propagation. These are
sometimes called E modes because there is only an electric field along the direction of
propagation.
o Hybrid modes: non-zero electric and magnetic fields in the direction of propagation.

DERIVATION
Transverse electric (TE) modes - the electric field is transverse to the
direction of propagation (no longitudinal electric field component) while the magnetic field has both
transverse and longitudinal components [Ez = 0, Hz 0].
TE and TM modes are commonly referred to as waveguide modes since they are the only modes
which can exist in an enclosed guiding structure. TE and TM modes are characterized by a cutoff
frequency below which they do not propagate. TE and TM modes can exist on transmission lines
but are generally undesirable. Transmission lines are typically operated at frequencies below the
cutoff frequencies of TE and TM modes so that only the TEM mode exists.
The transverse fields of TE modes are found by simplifying the general
guided wave equations with Ez = 0. The resulting transverse fields for TE modes are

The cutoff wavenumber kc must be non-zero to yield bounded solutions for the transverse field
components of TE modes. This means that we must operate the guiding structure above the
corresponding cutoff frequency for the particular TE mode to propagate. Note that all of the
transverse field components of the TE modes can be determined once the single longitudinal
component (Hz) is found. The longitudinal field component
Hz must satisfy the wave equation so that

IMPLEMENTATION IN HFSS:
1. Create a box

Box Dimensions:

2. Boundary Conditions:

FINITE CONDUCTIVITY:
The finite conductivity boundary is useful when modeling metal structures that are
very thin but still thicker than a skin depth. This boundary can therefore be used to model signal
traces, ground planes, or a radiating element. It also allows a user to specify the surface roughness
of the conducting object that it is applied to. This boundary is applied to a sheet object that will
represent the 3D conductor but has been drawn as a 2D object.
In HFSS, finite conductivity boundaries represent imperfect conductors. At the finite
conductivity boundary, the following condition holds:

Where
Etan is the component of the E-field that is tangential to the surface.
Htan is the component of the H-field that is tangential to the surface.
Zs is the surface impedance of the boundary, where,
is the skin depth, of the conductor being modeled.
is the frequency of the excitation wave.
is the conductivity of the conductor.
is the permeability of the conductor.
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The finite conductivity boundary condition is valid only if the conductor being modeled is a good
conductor; that is, if the conductors thickness is much larger than the skin depth in the given
frequency range. If the conductors thickness is on the order of or less than the skin depth in the
given frequency range, HFSSs layered impedance boundary condition should be used.

3. Wave Port:

WAVE PORT:
A Wave Port is the most commonly used type of excitation used in HFSS. This port type is
very useful for exciting microstrip, stripline, coaxial, or waveguide transmission lines. It should be
applied only to an outer face of the solution space.
A wave port represents the region or area where energy enters, or sources, the solution space.
This port, therefore, is ideally suited to sourcing structures that are good transmission lines and
should be applied only at outer faces of the solution volume. The wave port yields S, Y, Z
parameters, characteristic wave impedance, and gamma, the propagation and attenuation constant.
The S-parameters that are produced by a wave port are generalized and can be viewed as Sparameters that use the frequency-dependent characteristic wave impedance of the port as their
normalization constant.

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4. Solution Frequency Setting:

SOLUTION SETUP:
The solution frequency is used by HFSS to determine the maximum frequency at which
HFSS explicitly solves the given model.
The solution frequency is the frequency at which HFSS explicitly solves a given
simulation. It is also at this frequency that the adaptive solution operates, and it is the fields at this
frequency that are used to determine whether a model has converged or not. The solution frequency
should be set to the operating frequency of the device being simulated. If a frequency sweep result
is desired in a simulation, the solution frequency should be set to either the device operating
frequency, the center frequency of the sweep, or to a frequency that is between 60 and 80 percent of
the maximum frequency desired. The frequency that is used depends on what type of frequency
sweep will be used.
DELTA S SETTING:
The Delta-S parameter is the main convergence criterion used by HFSS when determining
whether a model has converged or not.
As mentioned, the adaptive process is a key element to ensuring that HFSS yields the correct
answer. Because of the direct relationship between the electric fields in a simulation and the
calculated S- matrix for that simulation, the convergence of the simulation is presented to a user via
the Delta-S value. The value of Delta-S is the change in the magnitude of the S-parameters between
two consecutive passes. Or, in electric field terms, the change in the electric field distribution
between successive solutions. Once the magnitude and phases of all S- parameters change by less
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than the user-specified Delta-S value, the analysis stops and is considered converged. Or conversely,
again in electric field terms, once the electric fields are no longer changing in the given model, the
field solution has converged and is correct.

5. Frequency sweep:

FREQUENCY SWEEP:
HFSS has three distinct sweep types: the discrete sweep, the fast sweep, and the
interpolating sweep. Depending on the needs of a user, a particular sweep type may be preferred.
Generally, the solution times required for a frequency sweep type increase in the following order:
fast, interpolating, and discrete.
But, for solutions that require field information at only a few (less than five)
discrete frequency points, the discrete sweep can be faster than either of the other two. The fast
sweep is useful when many frequency points are desired over a limited frequency range. The
interpolating sweep is most useful when solving problems from DC to a high frequency.
For both the interpolating and fast sweeps, the number of desired frequency points is not related to
the time it takes to generate the frequency sweep results. Both of these sweeps, in essence, generate
a pole-zero transfer function, and it is the generation of this function that requires the majority of the
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solution time. Once the transfer function has been generated, S-parameter data is rapidly
calculated.

PLOTTING FIELD RESULTS:

1. ELECTRIC FIELD MAGNITUDE:

2. ELECTRIC FIELD VECTOR:

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3. MAGNETIC FIELD MAGNITUDE:

4. MAGNETIC FIELD VECTOR:

HFSS can produce a plot of any standard electromagnetic quantity, such as the electric field,
magnetic field, Pointing vector, or current density. Generally, fields are displayed on specifically
created 2D objects, faces of 3D objects, or on coordinate system planes. Plots can be scalar quantity
plots or vector quantity plots. Specific quantities based on mathematical operations on the basic
field quantities can also be plotted by use of the fields calculator.
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GRAPHICAL RESULTS:
1. PROPAGATION CONSTANT vs FREQUENCY
55Ghz

1200.00

HFSSDesign1

ANSOFT

Curve Info

1000.00

Gamma

800.00
600.00

im(Gamma(1:1))
Setup1 : Sweep
im(Gamma(1:2))
Setup1 : Sweep
im(Gamma(1:3))
Setup1 : Sweep
im(Gamma(1:4))
Setup1 : Sweep

400.00
200.00
0.00
10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00
35.00
Freq [GHz]

40.00

45.00

50.00

55.00

2. 3-D PLOT:

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CONCLUSION:
A parallel, Circular, elliptical and hollow, Metallic waveguides supports only TE and TM
modes but TEM waves dont exist in a single-conductor hollow wave guide because TEM waves
are characterized by Ez=0, Hz=0 and fc=0. To support all TEM modes for a TEM wave two
separate conductor structure is required, such as Co-axial cable, Parallel plate waveguide, Strip line
and micro strip lines. The two conductor lines can be analyzed in terms of voltage, current and
impedance by the distributed circuit theory. The methodology applied to derive field equations can
be extended to other waveguides also. Obtained equations and Computer Simulation results can be
compared to understand the field lines and the Propagation characteristics.

REFERENCES
1.

N.Marcuvitz Waveguide Handbook The institution of Electrical Engineers. Dec-1985

2.

David.K.Cheng Field and Wave Electromagnetics 2nd Ed, 2006 Tsinghua University

3. Annapurna Das,Ssir K Das Microwave Engineering Mc-Grawhill HE, Sept 2006.

4. Constantine A Balanis Advanced Engineering ElectromagneticsJohn Wiley and Sons

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