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Electrical Conductivity Simulation
with VGSTUDIO MAX
Simulate electrical conductivity directly on CT scans of different materials using the Transport Phenomena Simulation Module for VGSTUDIO MAX.
Simulation of Electrical Conductivity
Electrical conductivity measures a material's ability to allow the transport of an electric charge.
The Transport Phenomena Simulation Module for VGSTUDIO MAX:
- Simulates the stationary electric potential and current fields in a two-component material, where each material has a different electrical conductivity, with the boundary condition that inlet and outlet are each clamped to a different constant electric potential.
- Works directly on voxel data and makes use of the sub-voxel accurate, local adaptive surface determination in VGSTUDIO MAX.
- Has "experiment mode" for performing a virtual experiment for the transport of electrical charge, as well as a "tensor mode" for calculating the electrical conductivity tensor.
The electrical conductivity module is based on following differential equations for stationary voltage and current density fields in a two-component material:
where Ω is the entire simulation domain and Ωₐ is the domain of component a (with a = 1, 2). It is assumed that Ω₁ and Ω₂ do not overlap and their union equals Ω. U is the electric potential (in volts), J is the current density, σₐ is the conductivity of component a, Δ is the Laplace operator, and grad is the gradient operator.
Experiment Mode
In experiment mode, the software performs a virtual experiment on the CT data of a structure. Use the experiment mode to simulate the transport of electrical charge through the structure from an inlet plane towards an outlet plane parallel to each other. Perpendicular to the inlet and outlet plane, you can define sealed or embedded boundary conditions. A voltage difference must be specified as driving quantity for the flow.
Results of Calculation
The results are provided as 2D and 3D visualizations of the current density field as well as the potential. Electrical flow directions can be visualized by streamlines in 2D and 3D:
- Current density
- Electric potential
- Streamlines
Additional Results
The following additional results are provided in a table view:
- Effective electric conductivity
- Diffusive tortuosity (geometric and algebraic)
- Formation factor
- Void fraction
- Total current
- Electric field strength
The following results can be viewed as curve plots along the flow direction:
- Current density
- Void fraction
- Total current
Tensor Mode
In tensor mode, the software calculates the intrinsic effective tensor-valued electrical conductivity. Calculate the electrical conductivity tensor either on the whole structure or for increments of the structure by using an integration mesh.
Results
The software provides electrical conductivity tensor results as 2D and 3D visualizations.
- Results are displayed as an ellipsoid in the center of the simulated volume.
- When the analysis is performed on an integration mesh, results are displayed as an ellipsoid in the center of each cell.
- The main axes of the ellipsoid are aligned with the eigenvectors of the tensor while the lengths of the axes are proportional to the eigenvalues of the tensor.
- When the analysis is performed on an integration mesh, the mean effective electrical conductivity and the void fraction as well as the eigenvalues of the electrical conductivity tensor can also be visualized in 2D and 3D.
In addition to the tensors' eigenvalues and eigenvectors, the components of the effective electrical conductivity tensor with respect to the simulation coordinate system are provided in a table view.
Benefits
Easy to use
- No simulation expertise required
- No meshing required
Efficient
- Seamless workflow from material segmentation to simulation in one software
Realistic
- All microstructural details are captured by a subvoxel accurate surface determination