RF Simulation Software

A combination of NEC with Spice ? ;-)

Just last week, I attended a one-day introductory session on the subject of RF Safety. I was surprised to see that this field of study is very immature - lots of really dumb ideas and obvious mistakes.

I did see some slides showing NEC models of human heads being exposed to RF and the predicted heating effects. The NEC models of heads are fairly complex and require a lot of computational horsepower.

It seems that the use of human phantom models (dummies filled with various liquids) is quite common.

Here is a pre-canned Google search:

I suspect that you'll have to use something like Spice to predict the performanc of your discrete components and then link those results into NEC.

Hi,

what kind of discrete components would you like to include in your 3D calculation.
If you are only interested in passive devices (R,L, C and maybe diodes) CST Microwave Studio could handle this directly.

For active components, you would have to split the simulation in two parts. One for the 3D simulation in which you replace the active elements by ports. You could then use the generated results (S-Parameter) in a circuit simulator.

Hope this helps,

Frank

VE1BLL: I agree completely that the RF Safety field is still very immature. I work in the MRI Industry, and we use phantoms very commonly in our work. It's very interesting actually, they make phantoms that simulate almost every part of the body, and different phantoms to simulate fat and blood. Thanks for your suggestions!

Frank: We'd be using mostly passive devices. I'll look into CST Microwave Studio. Thanks!