Ansys Charge Plus FAQ

Charge related failures are often driven by complex interactions between electric fields, charged particles, materials, plasma environments, and system geometry. This makes it difficult, costly, or even impossible to fully evaluate through physical testing alone.

Ansys Charge Plus is a multiphysics charging and discharging software simulation tool that helps engineers predict, analyze, and mitigate charge-related failures before hardware is built. By modeling charge accumulation, charge transport, plasma interactions, electric fields, and discharge events, engineers can identify risks earlier, reduce development costs, minimize redesigns, and improve system reliability.

Key benefits of Ansys Charge Plus:

• Predict electrostatic discharge, charging, arcing, and dielectric breakdown before testing
• Analyze charging behavior from individual components to complete platforms
• Simulate realistic plasma, radiation, space, and high-voltage environments
• Reduce qualification risk, testing costs, and engineering rework through physics-based simulation

About Ansys Charge Plus

What is Ansys Charge Plus and what can it simulate?

Ansys Charge Plus is a charging and discharging software simulation used to analyze:

• Electrostatic discharge (ESD)
• Electrical arcing and flashover
• Surface and internal charging
• Deep dielectric charging
• Spacecraft charging
• Plasma interactions
• Radiation-induced charging
• Dielectric breakdown
• Particle transport
• Charged particle environments

Engineers use Ansys Charge Plus to understand how charge accumulates, moves, and is discharged through materials, electronics, and complex systems before failures occur.

Why use Ansys Charge Plus?

Charge-related failures can be difficult, expensive, or impossible to discover through physical testing alone. Ansys Charge Plus helps you identify charging risks early, optimize designs before hardware is built, and reduce reliance on costly test campaigns.

Industries and Applications

What industries use Ansys Charge Plus?

Ansys Charge Plus is used across industries where charging, ESD, plasma interactions, or high-voltage effects impact performance and reliability.

• Aerospace and defense: Spacecraft charging, radiation effects, space survivability, and high-altitude electrical phenomena
• Automotive and electric vehicles: High-voltage systems, ESD mitigation, and electrification programs
• Electronics and consumer products: ESD compliance, device reliability, PCB protection  
• Industrial and power systems: High-voltage insulation, electrical safety, and arcing analysis  
• Semiconductor: Plasma processing, ESD control, etching and deposition  

What types of engineering problems can Ansys Charge Plus solve?

Ansys Charge Plus helps you evaluate:

• ESD failures
• Arcing events
• Spacecraft charging
• Radiation-induced anomalies
• Plasma-process interactions
• High-voltage insulation breakdown
• Grounding and bonding performance
• System-level charging risks

ESD and Charging Analysis

Can Ansys Charge Plus predict, analyze, and mitigate ESD events?

Yes. Ansys Charge Plus predicts where charge accumulates, identifies high electric field regions, and evaluates conditions that can lead to ESD, flashover, or arcing. Learn more about simulating ESD in the Solving Electromagnetic Challenges session “Simulating Air Electrostatic Discharge: Examples and Workflow.”

Can Charge Plus identify ESD current paths?

Yes. The software tracks current flow following a discharge event, helping engineers understand failure mechanisms and identify vulnerable components.

How does Ansys Charge Plus improve ESD robustness?

Users can evaluate grounding, bonding, shielding, material selection, and geometry changes before building prototypes, reducing ESD-related risk. The software analyzes how grounding and bonding affect voltage buildup, current flow, and discharge behavior throughout a system.

Can Ansys Charge Plus analyze PCB charging and ESD risks?

Yes. You can assess charge accumulation, dielectric breakdown, flashover, and discharge risk on printed circuit boards, and electronic assemblies.

Can Ansys Charge Plus predict dielectric breakdown?

Yes. Ansys Charge Plus identifies d electric field concentrations and voltage conditions that may lead to dielectric breakdown in materials and components.

Spacecraft Charging Analysis

How does Ansys Charge Plus evaluate spacecraft charging?

Ansys Charge Plus predicts:

• Surface charging
• Internal charging
• Differential charging
• Electric field distributions
• ESD susceptibility
• Arcing risk

These capabilities help you assess spacecraft survivability before launch. Ansys Charge Plus can be combined with testing in EMA’s Space Environment and Radiation Effects (SERE) Lab for a more complete look at how materials will perform in the space environment.

Can Ansys Charge Plus analyze spacecraft materials and subsystems?

Yes. You can evaluate charging behavior on:

• Solar arrays
• Electronics
• Structural materials
• Dielectrics
• Spacecraft coatings

What mission environments can Ansys Charge Plus simulate?

The software supports:

• Low Earth orbit (LEO)
• Geostationary Earth orbit (GEO)
• Lunar missions
• Deep-space missions
• Electric propulsion environments

Can Ansys Charge Plus model spacecraft-plasma interactions?

Yes. Using Particle-in-Cell (PIC) and fluid plasma solvers, Ansys Charge Plus models interactions between spacecraft and surrounding plasma environments.

Can Ansys Charge Plus simulate space weather effects?

Yes. You can incorporate mission-specific plasma and radiation environments, including solar storm conditions, to evaluate increased charging risks.

Radiation and Deep Dielectric Charging

Can Ansys Charge Plus simulate radiation-induced charging?

Yes. Ansys Charge Plus evaluates how energetic particles interact with materials and electronics to produce charging effects and electric field buildup.

How does Ansys Charge Plus analyze deep dielectric charging?

Ansys Charge Plus models particle interactions, internal charge deposition, charge transport, electric field buildup, and discharge conditions throughout a mission profile.

Plasma Simulation

What plasma environments can Ansys Charge Plus model?  

Ansys Charge Plus supports analysis of:

• Ionospheric plasmas
• Space plasmas
• Electric propulsion plasmas
• Semiconductor plasmas
• Custom plasma environments

Learn more about Ansys Charge Plus for semiconductor plasma simulation here.

How does Ansys Charge Plus model plasma interactions?

The software combines:

• Particle-in-Cell (PIC)
• Electromagnetic simulation
• Fluid plasma models
• Chemical reaction models

These capture charging behavior across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

System-Level and Multiphysics Simulation

Can Ansys Charge Plus analyze full systems and platforms?

Yes. Ansys Charge Plus scales from individual components to complete platforms, enabling system-level charging analysis.

What solvers make up Ansys Charge Plus?

The platform combines:

• Particle-in-Cell captures fast, small-scale kinetic effects like electron motion and non-equilibrium behavior
• Finite Element electromagnetic solvers handle radio frequency (RF) fields and wave-plasma interactions
• Fluid/CFD models represent bulk gas flow and larger-scale plasma behavior
• Chemistry and reaction models account for longer time-scale plasma processes and material interactions

Workflow and Productivity

What CAD formats can Ansys Charge Plus import?

Ansys Charge Plus supports standard CAD formats through the Ansys geometry framework and works directly within the Ansys Discovery environment.

Does Ansys Charge Plus support HPC and GPU acceleration?

Yes. Ansys Charge Plus supports:

• Distributed computing
• Multi-node HPC
• GPU acceleration
• Multi-GPU simulation

These capabilities allow for faster charging and plasma analyses. GPU acceleration is made possible through EMA’s participation in the NVIDIA Inception program.

Can Ansys Charge Plus automate design studies?

Yes. You can perform automated parametric studies, sensitivity analyses, and design optimization workflows. Learn more about EMA’s automation services here.

What level of expertise is required to use Ansys Charge Plus?

The software is designed for both experienced simulation specialists and engineers who are new to charging analysis. Training, consulting, and application support are available through EMA.

Why Choose Ansys Charge Plus?

What makes Ansys Charge Plus different from other charging simulation software?

Unlike many charging tools, Ansys Charge Plus combines:

• PIC physics
• Electromagnetic simulation
• Fluid plasma modeling
• Chemistry simulation
• Charge transport analysis

This single environment enables you to evaluate charging phenomena across electronics, spacecraft, high-voltage systems, and plasma applications.

Why use Ansys Charge Plus instead of physical testing alone?

Physical testing remains essential, but many charging and plasma phenomena are difficult to reproduce in a laboratory. Ansys Charge Plus helps you identify vulnerabilities before fabrication and qualification testing, reducing risk and accelerating development.

EMA Services and Support

Can EMA perform Ansys Charge Plus analyses for my organization?

Yes. EMA provides consulting, simulation services, application engineering, testing support, and workflow development for charging, ESD, plasma, and radiation-related projects.

How can I get access to Ansys Charge Plus?

Ansys Charge Plus is available exclusively through Ansys, Part of Synopsys.

Who should contact EMA?

EMA is a strong fit for anyone facing charging, ESD, spacecraft charging, plasma interaction, radiation-induced charging, arcing, or dielectric breakdown challenges. Whether you need simulation software, consulting, testing support, or training, EMA can help reduce risk and improve system reliability.

How can I get started with EMA?

You can start by:

• Requesting a consultation
• Discussing your technical challenge
• Exploring simulation options

EMA experts can review your program, identify charging risks, and demonstrate how Ansys Charge Plus can be applied to your hardware, system, spacecraft, or process to evaluate real-world engineering challenges.

Contact EMA to speak with our team and get started.