Electroforming simulations based on the level set method

This paper proposes a general applicable numerical algorithm for the simulation of two dimensional electrode shape changes during electroforming processes. The computational model consists of two coupled problems: electrode shape change rate computation and a moving boundary problem. The innovative aspect is that the electrode shape is computed over a number of predefined time steps by convection of its surface proportional with and in the direction of the local growth rate. Validation of the electrode growth algorithm is made by comparison with experimental results obtained for the electrode growth in the vicinity of a singularity (incident angle between the electrode and insulator = 180°). Finally an example related to the plating of two adjacent wires in order to demonstrate the strong features of the applied method will be presented