Evaluation of the Capacitance and Charge Distribution of Metallic Objects by Electrostatic Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical analysis for computation of free space capacitance of different arbitrarily shaped conductors like square plate, circular disk and T-shaped plate. Accurate evaluations of electrostatic analysis are essential for spacecraft design techniques to control electrostatic discharge (ESD). Capacitance computation is an important step in the prediction of electrostatic discharge which causes electromagnetic interference (EMI). We specifically illustrated capacitance computation of three electrostatic models. Numerical results on capacitance are presented. The results are compared with other available results in the literature. We used the COMSOL multiphysics software for the simulation. The models are designed in three-dimensional form using electrostatic environment and can be applied to any practical design. The findings of this study show that the finite element method (FEM) is a more accurate method for the computation of electrical capacitance.