A complementarity approach to modeling dynamic electric circuits

The goal of electric circuit simulation is to describe the flow of electricity throughout an electric circuit. Simulating the behavior of the circuit can not only help improve the design and efficiency of electronics, but also save time and money used in physically making the circuit. Circuit simulation has been an ongoing problem due to the difficult equations that model circuit components. In this thesis we develop a mathematical model for simulating dynamic electric circuits with ideal diodes. We build our model to include key electrical components like power sources, resistors, inductors, and capacitors. We then extend our model to include ideal diodes. Diodes are special electrical elements in that they only allow current to flow in one direction. We present numerical methods for simulating electrical networks with resistors, capacitors, inductors, and diodes using a complementarity approach. These methods have both high order of accuracy and work directly with the network description of the circuit.