USING HOMOGENEOUS EQUIVALENT PARAMETERS IN FINITE ELEMENT MODELS OF CURVED METAMATERIAL STRUCTURES

We report on the experimental verification of the employment of equivalent parameters in a 2D finite element model to describe absorptivity of curve-shaped, large-scale metamaterial structures. Equivalent homogeneous optical parameters were retrieved from experimental measurements of flat metamaterial sheets with square resonators of 8 and 9 mm and used in a 2D FE model to obtain the absorptivity of curved structures with similar metamaterial unit cells. The curved structures were experimentally characterized and showed good agreement with the model. The tremendous simplification made possible by simulating complex structures as homogeneous materials makes the method very attractive for designing large-scale electromagnetic shields and absorbers.