Defense & Aerospace Electronics

In the defense and aerospace sectors, companies design advanced electronics systems such as avionics, fly-by-wire controls and airborne communications. Electronics components are used in a variety of other applications, including surveillance and radar, antennas, guidance systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UMAVs).

Electric field patterns of two roof mounted antennas performed by HFSS

Engineers in the industry face challenges related to harsh operating conditions, which include significant swings in humidity levels and large temperature variations ranging from 50 degrees C to -20 degrees C. Furthermore, electronics products must meet the industry’s high safety and reliability standards, strong weight restriction targets, reduced fuel consumption mandates and long product lifecycle expectations.

Electric field pattern of blade antenna mounted on underside of fighter aircraft

The breadth and depth of ANSYS software means that companies can easily conduct comprehensive multiphysics simulation and enable cross-disciplinary product design and optimization. Technology from ANSYS reduces the need for physical prototyping and product testing through virtual simulation, expediting design and development and enabling companies to get their products to market much faster.

ANSYS offers electronics designers a variety of engineering simulation tools that address problems encountered in the defense and aerospace vertical segment.

Electric field pattern of antenna mounted on helicopter

Loading Content. Please wait

Thermal Management

For thermal management of avionics systems and airborne electronics, ANSYS Icepak offers the ability to perform CFD simulation related to natural and forced convection and radiation heat transfer. Joule heating effects in package or board substrates can be incorporated into a design analysis through direct import from SIwave, the ANSYS SI/PI product with power integrity simulation capabilities. For radar or antenna applications, the heat load generated during operation can be incorporated into the thermal design through direct import of heat load data from the 3-D high frequency electromagnetic simulation tool, HFSS, into ANSYS Icepak.

Thermal management of a radar dome using ANSYS Icepak

Mechanical

ANSYS products offer a comprehensive solution for conducting structural analysis with a full complement of nonlinear and linear elements as well as a complete set of element behavior and material laws. ANSYS Mechanical software incorporates tools for mechanical reliability and stress analysis. ANSYS Fatigue software can be used to simulate product performance under anticipated cyclic loading conditions over the product's expected lifespan. ANSYS also offers a complete set of implicit and explicit solvers, enabling engineers to simulate mechanical stresses and strains — such as through explicit drop testing — that develop during episodes of shock and vibration.

Random vibration analysis on airborne electronics

Model courtesy CADFEM GmbH.

High-Frequency Electromagnetic

For high-frequency electromagnetics exploration, ANSYS offers HFSS, a full-wave electromagnetic field solver ideal for simulating RF components as well as large and complicated microwave systems like radar and antennas. SIwave software analyzes complex printed circuit boards and IC packages prevalent in modern electronic products. HFSS software is uniquely integrated with the ANSYS high-speed RF circuit and system simulation tool, DesignerRF, enabling fast and accurate linear and nonlinear analysis of applications including filter synthesis, phase noise, S-parameter evaluation and intermodulation harmonics.