A MODIFIED LOCALLY CONFORMAL FINITE-DIFFERENCE TIME-DOMAIN ALGORITHM FOR MODELING 3-DIMENSIONAL PERFECTLY CONDUCTING OBJECTS

A stable conformal finite-difference time-domain algorithm, that incor porates the backward-weighted averaging scheme to accurately model cur ved metallic structures, is presented in this paper. The modified appr oach overcomes the size and shape limitations of the scheme that was p roposed previously by the authors, and this improvement is achieved wi th a little increase in the complexity of the algorithm. The advantage of using the present scheme over the previous one is illustrated by c arrying out a comparative study of the canonical problem of a spherica l cavity resonator. Further usefulness of the method is exemplified by modeling a gap-coupled circular microstrip patch antenna. (C) 1998 Jo hn Wiley & Sons, Inc.