shape.Box

Create closed box centered at origin

Since R2023b

Description

The shape.Box lets you create a box with metal and dielectric material properties centered at the origin. Use this box along with the other shapes and the geometric operations to create a shape for the custom antenna.

Creation

Syntax

box = shape.Box

box = shape.Box(PropertyName=Value)

Description

box = shape.Box creates a hollow box centered at the origin.

box = shape.Box(PropertyName=Value) sets properties using one or more name-value arguments. PropertyName is the property name and Value is the corresponding value. You can specify several name-value arguments in any order as PropertyName1=Value1, ..., PropertyNameN=ValueN. Properties that you do not specify retain their default values.

For example, box = shape.Box(Height=4) creates a hollow box with a height of 4 m along the z-axis and default values for other properties.

Properties

Name — Box name

"mybox" (default) | string

Box name, specified as a string.

Example: "Box1"

Data Types: string

Center — Box center point

[0 0 0] (default) | three-element real vector

Box center point, specified as a three-element vector of Cartesian coordinates in meters.

Example: [1 1 1]

Data Types: double

Length — Length of box

1 (default) | positive scalar

Length of the box along the x-axis, specified as a scalar in meters.

Example: 2

Data Types: double

Width — Width of box

2 (default) | positive scalar

Width of the box along the y-axis, specified as a scalar in meters.

Example: 4

Data Types: double

Height — Height of box

2 (default) | positive scalar

Height of the box along the z-axis, specified as a scalar in meters.

Example: 4

Data Types: double

Metal — Metal material of shape

"PEC" (default) | string

Metal material of the shape, specified as a metal name string from the Metal Catalog. To use the shape as a pure metal, set the Dielectric property to "Air". To create a metal-dielectric shape, use the addSubstrate function.

Example: "Copper"

Data Types: string

Dielectric — Dielectric material of shape

"Air" (default) | string

Dielectric material of the shape, specified as a dielectric name string from the Dielectric Catalog. To use the shape as a pure dielectric, set this property's value to a material other than "Air". In this scenario, value specified in the Metal property is ignored. To create a metal-dielectric shape, use the addSubstrate function.

Example: "Teflon"

Data Types: string

FrequencyModel — Frequency dispersion model

"Constant" (default) | "DjordjevicSarkar" | "MeanDjordjevicSarkar"

Frequency dispersion model for dielectric material, specified as a string. The default frequency model is Constant. Other supported frequency models are as below:

• Frequency independent: Constant

• Frequency dependent: DjordjevicSarkar and MeanDjordjevicSarkar

The DjordjevicSarkar model uses extrapolation techniques to predict properties of dielectric materials over a wide frequency range from a single frequency point measurement. The MeanDjordjevicSarkar model uses average value of the DjordjevicSarkar model over a frequency range of interest to predict properties of dielectric materials. Use the frequency independent model for narrow band applications. Use the frequency dependent models for wideband applications.

Example: "DjordjevicSarkar"

Data Types: string

Color — Color of shape

"y" (default) | character scalar | "Individual" | three-element real vector of RGB triplet

Color of shape, specified as either a character for color short name or a three-element real vector of RGB triplets. The default shape color is yellow. See the Types of Color Values supported by this property. When you unite two shapes of different colors, use "Individual" value to retain the colors of the original shapes in the resultant shape.

Example: "r"

Example: [0 0.447 0.741]

Data Types: double | string | char

Transparency — Transparency of shape

1 (default) | positive scalar within (0,1)

Transparency of shape, specified as a scalar in the (0,1) range, where 0 corresponds to full transparency while 1 corresponds to full opaqueness.

Example: 0.75

Data Types: double

EdgeColor — Color of shape edges

"k" (default) | character scalar | "Individual" | three-element real vector of RGB triplet

Color of shape edges, specified as either a character for color short name or a three-element real vector of RGB triplets. The default edge color is black. See the Types of Color Values supported by this property. When you unite two shapes of different edge colors, use "Individual" value to retain the edge colors of the original shapes in the resultant shape.

Example: "b"

Example: [0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]

Data Types: double | string | char

Object Functions

Boolean Operation

add	Perform Boolean unite operation on two shapes
and	Perform Boolean intersection operation on two shapes
intersect	Generate and plot intersection of two shapes
minus	Carve a shape from other shape
plus	Join two shapes
subtract	Perform Boolean subtraction operation on two shapes

Modification

addSubstrate	Create metal-dielectric shape
createHole	Create a 2-D hole on custom shape
deleteFaces	Delete specified faces of box
extrude	Extrude 2-D shape on another shape
imprintShape	Imprint 2-D shape on another shape
removeFaces	Interactively select and remove 3-D shape faces

Rotation and Scaling

rotate	Rotate shape about axis by angle
rotateX	Rotate shape about x-axis by angle
rotateY	Rotate shape about y-axis by angle
rotateZ	Rotate shape about z-axis by angle
scale	Change size of shape by fixed factor
translate	Move shape to new location

Meshing and Visualization

getShapeVertices	Find shape vertices
mesh	Generate and view mesh for antennas, arrays, and custom shapes
show	Display antenna, array structures, shapes, or platform
showFaces	Show face numbers of box

Examples

Join Box and Custom 3-D Shape

Create and join a box and a custom 3-D shape.

b = shape.Box;
c = shape.Custom3D; 
s = plus(b,c)

s = 
  Custom3D with properties:

              Name: 'custom3D'
          Vertices: [23×3 double]
             Metal: 'PEC'
        Dielectric: 'Air'
    FrequencyModel: 'Constant'
             Color: 'Individual'
      Transparency: 'Individual'
         EdgeColor: 'Individual'

Alternatively, you can directly join shapes using the '+' operator.

b + c;

Version History

Introduced in R2023b

R2025a: Use frequency dispersion model for dielectric material

Use frequency dispersion models to include the effect of frequency variation on the dielectric material properties of the shape. The default model is Constant meaning the dielectric material properties are constant and frequency independent. Other supported models are frequency dependent DjordjevicSarkar and MeanDjordjevicSarkar. Use the FrequencyModel property to specify the frequency model for the shape.