Modeling staircased wires using the FDTD method

The question as to how to use the FDTD method to model staircased cylindrical wires (or right angle bends) arose during the development of a FDTD model for a Vee dipole antenna. When the arms of the dipole were modeled using a staircase of electric field components set to zero, the signal propagated along the arms at a velocity slower than the velocity of light. Further study determined that this staircase, meant to model a straight wire passing at an oblique angle through the FDTD grid, actually modeled a wire bent in a fashion similar to the staircase.