Spacecraft charging with EMA3D Charge

Spacecraft are exposed to harsh radiation environments. These dynamic radiation environments present significant threat to mission performance when charge accumulation and dissipation is not adequately mitigated. EMA3D Charge is a new simulation platform tailored to the study of surface charging, deep dielectric charging, and radiation hardening of spacecraft and their components. Charge implements multiple solvers capable of co-simulating: finite element electromagnetics, boundary element method surface charging, particle transport and particle-in-cell. The multiple solvers facilitate model reuse and enable powerful physical analysis not possible with separate, individual solvers. The solvers include a three-dimensional particle transport tool, a surface charge balance solver, and a finite-element-method electromagnetic solver that supports both quasi-static and full-wave (or fully electrodynamic) solutions. This article summarizes the solvers, example applications, and validation compared to accepted numerical solutions for spacecraft in the space plasma environment.(c) 2023 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.