With the release of TICRA Tools 20.0 users will have access to many capability improvements across the products, GRASP, CHAMP 3D, ESTEAM and QUPES. Customised colouring of antenna objects in the 3D-view, a new measurement tool and easy, intuitive access to any of the numerous tutorial cases are only a few of the new features in TICRA TOOLS 20.0. In addition, many specific features to ease the complicated design and analysis task that users perform in their daily work are added, some of which are described below.

Distance measurement in 3D geometry view

In TICRA Tools 20.0 you can measure distances between two points in a 3D geometry view. With this new feature it is significantly easier to verify the definition of a complex model in TICRA Tools, thus minimising the risk of errors that may be time-consuming or expensive to correct at a later stage.

Convenient filtering of 35 tutorial cases

Users of TICRA Tools 20.0 have access to a very convenient filtering option when searching in the tutorial cases illustrating various applications of TICRA Tools. Additionally, the tutorial cases are available from the start-up screen to provide easy access to the 35 tutorial cases.

Optimisation goals based on user-defined expression

A new type of optimisation goals is available in TICRA Tools 20.0. It provides the capability of optimising the value of a user-defined expression that contains optimisation variables.

The optimisation goals give the user a convenient way of maximising, minimising or targeting a user-defined property of the antenna system being optimised.

Trigonometric functions with arguments in degrees available

Previous versions only offered trigonometric functions that required the input angle in radians. Following many user-requests the standard trigonometric functions are now also available for arguments in degrees: sind(), cosd(), tand(), asind(), acosd(), atand() and atan2d().

Create electrical properties object defined by Periodic Unit Cells

Users of both GRASP and QUPES can benefit from the possibility to create an object of the class “Periodic Surface Electrical Properties” defined from any available Periodic Unit Cells in QUPES.  It offers the user a convenient way of applying the electrical properties of a periodic cell directly to the antenna surface, for example Frequency Selective Surfaces (FSS) subreflector designs, mesh reflectors, beam waveguides, quasi-optical networks and more. In this way, the entire analysis and design can be done within the TICRA Tools framework.

 

Parameter binding for Periodic Unit Cells and Quasi-Periodic Surfaces in QUPES

TICRA Tools 20.0 brings more design flexibility as it provides the possibility to reduce the number of optimisation variables when optimising Quasi-Periodic Surfaces. QUPES allows the user to bind element parameters on different layers with each other, making it easier to design multilayer designs, e.g. reflectarrays and Frequency Selective Surfaces, since a single parameter now can control the geometry in multiple layers.

Reduced memory and time for MLFMM setup in ESTEAM

For very large cases, particularly when running simulations on a machine with a high number of threads, MLFMM will require less memory and computational time during setup.

Coupling calculations possible with radiating devices in CHAMP 3D

Radiating Devices, used in CHAMP 3D to describe radiation from apertures, can now be used in coupling calculations. Hence, an approximate and accurate value for the coupling between radiating devices and any other source in TICRA Tools can be determined. Also, improvements of the CHAMP 3D Wizard and the 2D Device Editor, better CAD export of your design and more flexibility in the definition of various waveguide components have been implemented.

With a valid Technical Support and Maintenance agreement you can download TICRA Tools 20.0 on our support site.