HFSS General Procedure

To set up an HFSS design, follow this general procedure. Note that after you insert a design, you do
not need to perform the steps sequentially, but they must be completed before a solution can be generated.

1. Insert an HFSS design into a project.

2. Select the solution type.
3. Set the model’s units of measurement.
4. Draw the model geometry and assign material characteristics to objects.
5. Assign boundaries, which specify the field behavior at the edges of the problem region and
object interfaces.
6. For Driven solution-type designs, assign excitations - sources of electromagnetic fields and
charges, currents, or voltages on objects or surfaces.
7. Specify how HFSS will compute the solution.

Changing Units:

1. Click Modeler→Units.
The Set Model Units dialog box appears.
2. Select the new units for the model from the Select units pull-down list.
3. Specify how the change in units affects the model:
 Select the Rescale to new units option to rescale the dimensions to the new units. For
example, selecting centimeters (cm) as the new unit of measurement results in a dimension
of 10 millimeters (mm) becoming 10 cm.
 Clear the Rescale to new units option (the default) to convert the dimensions to the new
units without changing their scale. For example, selecting cm as the new unit of measurement
results in a dimension of 10 mm becoming 1 cm.
4. Click OK to apply the new units to the model.

HFSS Design Details:

 Boundaries: Displays the boundary conditions assigned to an HFSS design, which specify the Field
behavior at the edges of the problem region and object interfaces.
 Excitations: Displays the excitations assigned to an HFSS design, which are used to specify the
sources of electromagnetic fields and charges, currents, or voltages on objects or surfaces in the
design.
 Mesh Operations: Displays the mesh operations specified for objects or object faces. Mesh
operations are optional mesh refinement settings that are specified before a mesh is generated.
 Analysis: Displays the solution setups for an HFSS design. A solution setup specifies how HFSS will
compute the solution.
 Optimetrics: Displays any Optimetrics setups added to an HFSS design.
 Results: Displays any post-processing reports generated.
 Port Field Display: Displays all port fields in the active model.
 Field Overlays: Displays field overlay plots, which are representations of basic or derived field
quantities on surfaces or objects.
 Radiation: Displays far- and near-field setups added to an HFSS design.

Validating Projects:
Before you run an analysis on a model, it is very important that you first perform a validation check
on the project. When you perform a validation check on a project, HFSS runs a check on all the
setup details of the active project to verify that all the necessary steps have been completed and
their parameters are reasonable.

To perform a validation check on the active project:

1. On the HFSS menu, click Validation Check. HFSS checks the project setup, and then the Validation
Check window appears.
2. View the results of the validation check in the Validation Check window.

The following icons can appear next to an item:

Indicates the step is complete.

Indicates the step is incomplete.
Indicates the step may require your attention.

3. View any messages in the Message Manager window.

4. If the validation check indicates that a step in your project is incomplete or incorrect, carefully
review the setup details for that particular step and revise them as necessary.
5. On the HFSS menu, click Validation Check to run a validation check after you have revised any
setup details for an incomplete or incorrect project step.
6. Click Close.