KiCad Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with free Software Tools

KiCad Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with free Software Tools free download

Learn to perform 3D Finite Element Analysis (FEM / FEA) and FDTD simulations with KiCad using free Software tools

This course is for you if you already use KiCad but either cannot or choose not to invest in a commercial FEM tool.

Beyond learning how to perform FEM (and FDTD) simulations with free tools, you will also discover fascinating insights that will undoubtedly make you a better hardware design engineer by the end of this course.

By the end of this course, you'll have a solid foundation in using free FEM tools for PCB design, empowering you to make better design decisions.

What You Will Learn

In this course, I will guide you through simulating the following topics using free software tools for KiCad:

• Current Flow in PCB Traces (DC) / PDN analysis / PI analysis

  • Learn how to simulate the current flowing through a PCB trace.

  • Based on current density, we will analyze and simulate voltage drops along the trace.

  • This will in return also give you information about the trace resistances

• Electric Fields Around Traces and Components

  • Understand how to simulate electric fields around traces and components.

  • Explore 3D field simulations to visualize signal propagation and identify areas where PCB routing can be improved.

  • We will simulate static electric fields with the free tool Elmerfem and dynamic electromagnetic fields with OpenEMS.

• Troubleshooting

  • I will show you many ways to troubleshoot typical errors when working with the free tools which will hopefully lead to a fast learning curve.