Development and applications of a hybrid finite-element method/method-of-moments (FEM/MoM) tool to model electromagnetic compatibility and signal integrity problems in printed circuit boards

EMAP5 is a numerical software package designed to model electromagnetic problems. It is a hybrid finite-element/moment-method (FEM/MoM) code. It employs the finite element method to analyze a volume, and employs the method of moments to analyze the current distribution on the surface of the volume. The two methods are coupled through the tangential fields on the volume surface.; This dissertation presents the latest improvements made to the EMAP5 code. A novel preconditioning technique is developed that can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of iterative solvers. Three different solution methods are investigated and a general guideline for choosing solution methods is provided. The interior resonance problem of the electric- and magnetic-field integral equations (EFIE and MFIE) is investigated. A combined field integral equation (CFIE) is implemented. The CFIE avoids problems due to the interior resonance when solving electromagnetic scattering problems and when modeling typical printed circuit board (PCB) geometries. The dissertation also discusses methods for efficiently analyzing PCB geometries using hybrid FEM/MoM techniques.