Discretization

The <#210#>nominal length<#210#> #tex2html_wrap_inline1050# of the wire segments in the mesh may be changed at any time during the structure modelling process. The new discretization is performed immediately. The nominal segment length is a key concept in the code: each straight wire is divided into p segments, defined by

#math59#
p = <#1#>int<#1#>#tex2html_wrap_indisplay1053##tex2html_wrap_indisplay1054# + 0.99999#tex2html_wrap_indisplay1055#, (1)
where L is the length of the wire section and #math60#<#1#>int<#1#>(x) is the integer operator, taking the integer part of x.

All straight wires belonging to a major element defined by more than two major nodes are divided into segments of equal length. Following the ``same surface rule'' [#Ludwig87##1###], these wires are modelled with a radius of #math61##tex2html_wrap_inline1060#. 1

When the wire is a major element defined by two nodes, the ``same surface rule'' is irrelevant, and the user must specify radii for the two end points, which is independent of the discretization. (The code still offers a radius of #math62##tex2html_wrap_inline1064# as the default, although this will of course almost certainly be incorrect in this case). The number of segment divisions on the wire is still defined by (#numofsegments#531>). In addition to simple wires of uniform radius (corresponding to a <#223#>GW<#223#> NEC2 card), WIREGRID can also handle tapered wires, generating the necessary <#224#>GW<#224#> and <#225#> GC<#225#> cards.