Respecting strict guidelines with respect to electromagnetic interference (EMI), compatibility (EMC), and environmental effects (E3) due to electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic field, electromagnetic pulse, electrostatic discharge, or lightning strikes, is not just a good design practice, it is the law. Whether it is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques (CISPR) or any other similar regulatory agency, they all have strict EMC/EMI standards. CISPR standards include CISPR 11, 12, 14-1, 14-2, 16-1, etc. IEC standards include IEC EN 61000-3-4, 4-1, 4-6, 4-4, etc. ISO standards include ISO 11451-1, -2, -3, ISO 11452,etc. European standards include EN 50 081, 55 013, 60 555, etc. American standards include FCC Part 15, MIL-STD 461, 464, etc. As a result, all electric and electronics manufacturers and designers must take the specific standards into design considerations if they wish to sell into that region. The military institutions have their standards which are usually stricter than civilian ones.
Respecting such standards can be challenging to manufacturers because many electrical and electronics designers are not familiar with electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves and fields. Oftentimes, the resulting radiation and interference are side effects of the design and not the main functioning principle. Hence, electromagnetic software packages that can mimic and simulate EMI, EMC, E3, and shielding phenomena are becoming crucial for electrical and electronics designers.
If you are an electrical designer and trying to respect EMC, EMI, or E3 standards, most probably someone in your organization must have an MCAD model of your design. Grab that model and import it into Solidworks or SpaceClaim which have EMWorks’ electromagnetic add-ins, EMS and HFWorks and start your compliance maneuvering immediately. Whether the pain is the susceptibility, emission, environmental effects, health hazards, or shielding and whether the standards are FCC’s, CISPR’s, or IEC’s, EMS and HFWorks, with their seamless MCAD integration, are your indispensable EMC/EMI companions. Depending on the electromagnetic source, frequency, and size of the device compared to wavelength, either EMS or HFWorks shall be used. The following examples should illustrate the use EMS and HFWorks for EMC/EMI applications.