COMSOL BV provides software solutions for multiphysics modeling. It is a fast growing high tech engineering software company with a proven track record and a vision as a future leader of the industry. The company was founded in July 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden and throughout the years has grown to include offices in Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A.
COMSOL Products
In 1998 COMSOL published the first version of its flagship product, COMSOL Multiphysics® – an engineering, design, and finite element analysis software environment for the modeling and simulation of any physics-based system. In subsequent years, the product line was expanded to include a suite of discipline-specific add-on modules for Structural Mechanics, High and Low Frequency Electromagnetics, Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer, Chemical Reactions, MEMS, Acoustics, and more. Applications for the software are found in virtually every area of science and engineering. Interfacing tools enable the integration of COMSOL Multiphysics® simulations with all major technical computing and CAD tools on the CAE market.
COMSOL Multiphysics® contains functionality for building simulation applications, the Application Builder. This allows simulation experts to create intuitive and very specific user interfaces for their otherwise general computer models — ready-to-use custom applications. The applications can be deployed with the addition of the COMSOL Server™ or COMSOL Compiler™ products. Both products allow experts to share finished applications with their design teams, manufacturing departments, process operators, test laboratories, customers, and clients worldwide. COMSOL Server™ is an application management tool where applications safely and securely can be deployed, either through an internal network or across the web. COMSOL Compiler™ is an add-on to COMSOL Multiphysics® that enables creating standalone applications, which can be run on a desktop or laptop computer without COMSOL Multiphysics® or COMSOL Server™.
COMSOL’s customers
COMSOL products help researchers and engineers design and develop better products. Leading technical enterprises, research labs, and universities use this simulation tools to increase productivity and problem solving capacity. COMSOL’s customers make our cars and aircrafts safer and more energy efficient, they enhance the reception to our cell phones, they search for new energy sources, explore the universe, develop medical equipment enabling more accurate diagnosis, and they educate the next generation of scientists.
COMSOL events
COMSOL offers free online presentations featuring live software demonstrations, a range of topics, and guest industry speakers. Participate in the Q&A during the live event or access archived webinars later. To help users expand their knowledge of COMSOL Multiphysics with advanced modeling techniques, the company also offers general intensive courses as well as trainings devoted to a specific science/engineering area.
Topology optimization is associated with extreme design freedom and thus extreme performance, but the resulting designs are often incompatible with conventional manufacturing techniques. The development of manufacturing constraints for topology optimization is an active research topic. The COMSOL Multiphysics® software supports milling constraints, and in this blog post we will explain how to use such functionality and show examples. Read more
For many structural engineers, beam theory is a popular analysis tool. Using the equations can be beneficial when considering structural behavior, as they are easy to apply and provide useful results. However, it’s also known that due to the simplicity and convenience, beam theory is applied even when some underlying assumption may not hold up too well. This blog post investigates one such case, where there are severe pitfalls of using beam theory, and the true structural behavior is surprisingly different. Read more
Fuel cells are one of the most talked about new technologies in the clean energy domain. Fuel cells generate electricity via electrochemical reactions involving hydrogen and oxygen, where the sum reaction yields hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction. Simply put, if a fuel cell has a steady supply of hydrogen and oxygen, it will generate electricity. Furthermore, the byproduct generated in this process is water, thereby making it a “clean fuel”, which doesn’t generate carbon dioxide or toxic byproducts. Read more
It’s quite common to use focused laser light to rapidly heat materials for various purposes, including within the semiconductor processing industry. Here, we will look at a Gaussian profile laser beam with periodically pulsed intensity, heating up two different semitransparent materials deposited onto a silicon substrate. To model this, we will solve a multiphysics modeling problem using the temperature field and the Beer–Lambert law. Let’s further explore the model and see how to set it up… Read more
Calcium carbonates produced by sea creatures help to maintain the ocean’s alkalinity — and also serve as a natural sink for anthropogenic carbon dioxide. To better understand essential but obscure deep-sea galvanization processes, Olivier Sulpis of Utrecht University developed an innovative 3D reactive-transport model that shows how seashells help preserve calcite grains in seafloor sediments. Read more
Shape optimization can be used to improve designs in many different physics areas. In this blog post, we will focus on shape optimization in wave optics. We will go over the shape optimization features in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and show what you can expect to achieve when these features are used for wave optics applications. Read more
COMSOL Multiphysics® version 6.1 introduces new functionality for detached eddy simulation, thermal analysis of satellites, winding layouts for electric motors, and robust mechanical contact. A new interface enables the analysis of battery packs with several hundred cells. Simulation of acoustically driven flows is made possible by a new acoustic streaming interface. New mesh repair tools for the handling of misaligned models provide an alternative to traditional CAD repair and defeaturing. Direct modeling operations make it possible to perform parametric sweeps of imported CAD models and optimize them. New functionality for including direct shadows in visualizations provides enhanced depth perception. Read more and watch the video
A multidisciplinary team worked together to design and install an aboveground rainwater drainage system in Copenhagen, Denmark. The resulting structure provides an ingenious system for dispersing rainwater runoff from nearby rooftops and mitigating noise pollution. Watch the video
Tectonic Audio Labs created a state-of-the-art balanced mode radiator speaker using electromagnetics, mechanical, and acoustics simulation. The speaker was implemented into a virtual reality (VR) headset for Valve Corporation and is now regarded as the gold standard for VR audio. Read more
Rather than coining the phrase “x-ray vision,” perhaps comic book writers should have called it “terahertz vision” instead. The precise blend of electromagnetic and material properties in the terahertz spectrum enables efficient applications such as simultaneous noncontact package inspection with spectroscopic characterization — to determine, for example, whether a package contains baking flour or an illegal or otherwise dangerous substance. This can be determined without opening the package and while returning images of the package contents with submillimeter precision. Readmore [Source: photonics.com]
Creating clean energy alternatives for energy sources that generate greenhouse gas is crucial if we are to avoid excessive global heating and the rising climate crisis. A viable, renewable energy source are ocean tides, which, unlike solar and wind resources, are not weather dependent, making them predictable. Tidal energy can be harnessed by deploying tidal turbines into tidal streams. This process is the foundation of the MeyGen project, a massive renewable energy project that is planned to be the world’s largest tidal energy plant. Recently, an array of tidal turbines has been deployed at this project site, where tides flowing between the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea are funneled into a high-energy stream between mainland Scotland and the Island of Stroma. Read more
Simulations One of the common objectives of electromagnetics simulation is to extract lumped quantities that can be used in electric circuit simulations. Keep reading to get step-by-step instructions on how to perform such a task using the COMSOL Multiphysics® software… Read more
Graphene and other 2D materials are the focus of intense research and application interests due to their promising properties. In this blog post, we are going to use the example of a graphene-based THz metamaterial perfect absorber to demonstrate how to model 2D materials accurately and efficiently in high-frequency electromagnetics. The discussed techniques are equally applicable to modeling other thin layers, such as coatings on optical devices. Read more
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are used to power a variety of devices, from toys and drones to cellphones and laptops to medical equipment and electric cars. To efficiently power such devices, the temperature distribution inside operating Li-ion batteries needs to be controlled, as deviation from optimal operating temperatures can cause a loss, or failure, in their performance. One way to analyze the temperature distribution in Li-ion batteries is with multiphysics simulation. Read more
Two professional chefs stand in a classroom, closely observing a soft-boiled egg. What may initially sound like a cooking class is actually part of a physics course offered at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e) in the Netherlands. Read more
The power of multiphysics simulation reaches all elements of product and process design projects with the introduction of the Model Manager server, which facilitates the collaboration between stakeholders and colleagues working on a modeling and simulation project. Readmore
Microlithography lenses are used to project the image of an integrated circuit onto a silicon substrate. This tutorial demonstrates how to create a 21-element fused silica lens which has a NA of 0.56 which is designed to be used at a wavelength of 248nm. The lens, which has a total length of 1 meter, has a magnification of -0.25 with excellent image quality over a 23.4mm image circle. Download the application files
Polar Night Energy, a startup in Finland, has developed technology for warming up buildings with solar-generated heat stored in sand. The team uses thermal modeling to optimize the design of their heat storage and distribution systems, which are helping Finnish cities reduce their consumption of nonrenewable heating fuels. Read more
There has recently been a lot of controversy online regarding an entertaining video that tries to address a big misconception about electricity: that electrons carry the energy in an electrical circuit. Although the video, and many of the response videos, are certainly engaging, there is so much more to the story, and using the COMSOL Multiphysics® software is an excellent way to investigate this theory. Read more
Optical fiber networks, which make up the backbone of the internet, rely on many electrical signal processing devices. Nanoscale silicon photonic network components, such as phase shifters, could boost optical network speed, capacity, and reliability. To design these small but powerful devices, a team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) uses simulation to optimize both optical and electromechanical performance. Read more
Today, we released a new version of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software, version 6.0! With the release, we bring you the Model Manager, a new core functionality that enables efficient simulation data management and collaboration. Also introduced with the new version is the Uncertainty Quantification Module, a new add-on product for global sensitivity and probabilistic analyses. Additionally, many significant updates have been made to the platform product and add-on products. Get an overview of what’s new in the latest version here. Read more
Do you drool at the very mention of chocolate? If so, you’re a “chocoholic” like me, and Nestlé’s Kit Kat® bar is one of my favorites. For 80 years, people around the globe have devoured this four-piece delight. To ensure every bar of chocolate produced has the same consistency, texture, and taste, the engineers at Nestlé’s Product Technology Centre in York, UK (PTC York) are using simulation to optimize the Kit Kat® bar manufacturing process. Read more
High-performance fusion reactors call for high-performance materials. To optimize a production process for a tungsten material used in a fusion reactor divertor, researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH (FZJ), Institute for Energy and Climate Research, and Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Germany turned to multiphysics modeling. Read more
Today, even though most of us aren’t celebrities, we appear on camera more than ever before. Smartphones, computers, and other devices equipped with compact camera modules (CCMs) are almost inescapable — whether or not we feel ready for our closeups! As CCM-equipped products continue to rapidly evolve, these small but powerful optical devices must also keep improving. To ensure that CCMs can produce clear, sharp images within cost and spatial constraints, engineers can analyze their performance with optical ray tracing simulation. Read more
These models are featured in the blog post Analyze Violin Tone and Volume with Multiphysics Modeling. One applies acoustic-structure interaction to study how the air mode resonance is affected by the coupled vibrations in the violin body. The other uses a potential flow approximation to find out how the air flow through the sound holes relates to their shape. Read more
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is an example of a standard Cassegrain telescope. The Conic Mirror On Axis 3D part from the COMSOL part library is used to construct the HST Ritchey-Chretien geometry. Multiple release features are used to generate on and off-axis ray and spot diagrams. Download the application files
In mid to late 2020, hotly anticipated 5G-enabled smartphones began to roll out to the general public. One of the key aspects of the new 5G infrastructure that supports these devices is RF filters. These filters, which are used to stop signal interference, can become subject to significant temperature variations resulting in structural deformation, especially in extreme environmental conditions. Engineers designing RF filters for 5G devices must be able to analyze how temperature variations and thermal stresses affect their performance. This is where multiphysics simulation comes into play. Read more
In this blog post, we examine a 12-slot, 10-pole permanent magnet (PM) machine modeled in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and AC/DC Module. Read more
Thermal management is an important factor in the design and performance of all electromagnetic devices, as it affects device cost, efficiency, reliability, and safety, among other factors. Mathematical modeling and numerical simulation can be used to investigate heat transfer mechanisms, temperature variations, and thermal effects in order to make informed design choices and better predict device performance. Application Note
COMSOL Multiphysics® versie 5.6 biedt snellere solvers waarbij minder geheugen wordt gebruikt, een efficiëntere werkwijze met betrekking tot CAD-geometrieën, Clip Planes, lay-outtemplates voor applicaties en vier nieuwe producten: Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer Module, LiveLink™ for Simulink®, Polymer Flow Module en Liquid & Gas Properties Module. Lees verder
When setting up and running CFD, heat transfer, and acoustics simulations, modeling the material properties correctly is crucial. With the Liquid & Gas Properties Module, you can accurately and easily compute density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and other properties as functions of composition, pressure, and temperature. Read more
We released COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.6 on November 11, 2020. Watch this video to get an introduction to the new version, including core functionality updates and news pertaining to specific add-on modules.
Electromagnetic shielding is vital to the power & energy industry because it is used to ensure the operation of technical systems, reduce the unwanted emissions of electromagnetic fields, and more. In this video, you will learn how to model electromagnetic shielding using COMSOL Multiphysics® and the AC/DC Module. Read more and watch the video
Researchers at the Flemish Institute for Technical Research (VITO/EnergyVille) and KU Leuven developed a pseudo-three-dimensional model of a semisolid flow battery to find reliable answers to their design questions, such as how flow rate affects particle discharge and how cell voltage changes during the discharge process. Read more
Batman and Robin. Gin and tonic. Carl Zeiss and Ernst Abbe? Although you may not have heard of that last duo, their collaboration led to advancements in the development of microscopes and optical lenses. This 19th-century story — involving a picturesque German town, microscopes, and a hammer and anvil — also demonstrates what can happen when empirical research and theory come together. Imagine the possibilities when simulation is brought in… Read more
Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) masks supply air to patients in respiratory distress via continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Polibrixia, a research company in Italy, set out to design and optimize an oronasal mask for CPAP- and NIV-ventilated patients using multiphysics simulation. Read more
If you are new to simulation, check out the first video, Part 1, “Introduction to COMSOL Multiphysics®”, to see how simulation can benefit optical product design. In Part 2, “COMSOL Applications in Optics and Photonics”, Wallace and Boucher discuss why you should simulate more than just optics. Watch the video
Looking for a quick, guided introduction to electromagnetic coil modeling with the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and the AC/DC Module? We put together a series of video lectures that walk you through the modeling of electromagnetic coils, designed to show the key aspects of building such models. Let’s quickly review what’s in these videos and how to use the series to your best advantage! Read more
Have you ever noticed how your own voice sounds different when you speak while wearing a set of headphones or earbuds? Known as the occlusion effect, this phenomenon also affects the performance and comfort provided by hearing aids, and in turn, their acceptance by hearing-impaired people. Let’s see how the COMSOL Multiphysics® software can help researchers in minimizing this effect to design better hearing aids and earbuds. Read more
This example shows how to use response spectrum analysis to verify the integrity of a structure that is exposed to an earthquake. The building is modeled as a steel frame, using beam elements. Displacements and stresses are computed. Read more
For 2D modeling components, or when using work planes in 3D models, you may have noticed a subtle yet significant change in how geometry can be created in the software. Using Sketch mode, along with constraints and dimensions, you can draw plane geometry and define relations between the geometric entities that you draw. Rest assured, the 2D geometry drawing functionality you have grown accustomed to is still available, but now there are features that enable efficiency like never before. Read more
To balance the broad range of personalized features being built into luxury vehicles, the team of acoustics and simulation experts at HARMAN accounts for different components, acoustics, and unique configurations early on in the design system process, see figure and read more
Computing the spatial derivative of the magnetic field or magnetic flux density is useful in areas such as radiology, magnetophoresis, particle accelerators, and geophysics. One of the most important use cases is the design of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, where it is necessary to analyze not only the field strength but also the spatial variation of the field. Read more
The 2019 edition of the annual magazine contains 10 new articles, with contributors from Volkswagen, ITW, HARMAN, ABB, RadiaSoft, Pinggao Group, Signal Microwave, University of Campinas and Virginia Commonwealth University, sharing how they are using multiphysics simulation and simulation applications for design improvement, product and process optimization, and in education. Read more
How fast can you set up a multibody system model? When modeling a large mechanical system with several components, have you ever wanted to model most of them as rigid bodies? Read more
In version 5.5, the Design Module provides an entirely new sketching tool for easier creation and more versatile parametric control of geometry models. New and updated solvers speed up a wide range of simulations. Two new add-on products, the Porous Media Flow Module and the Metal Processing Module, further expand the product suite’s multiphysics modeling power. Read more
If you strike a bowl made of glass or metal, you hear a tone with an intensity that decays with time. In a world without damping, the tone would linger forever. In reality, there are several physical processes through which the kinetic and elastic energy in the bowl dissipate into other energy forms. In this blog post, we will discuss how damping can be represented, and the physical phenomena that cause damping in vibrating structures. Read more
Step into the state-of-the-art Samsung Audio Lab to see how they develop loudspeakers, soundbars, and other audio products using multiphysics simulation. In this Inside Look video, we meet Allan Devantier and Andri Bezzola as they explain how a combination of simulation, validation, and testing enables them to develop optimized audio products for Samsung. They also explain why the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and simulation applications are ideal for their development workflow. Watch the video
You can use the Lumped Mechanical System interface to develop 1D mechanical circuit models using lumped elements such as masses, springs, and dampers. Such circuit or lumped models can be easily coupled with standard finite element (FE) models, which is useful when simulating complex mechanical systems. Read more
It’s 1996, and myself and a group of ~20 other second graders huddle under our desks in our elementary school classroom in Southern California. People regularly hold these “earthquake drills” around the world, especially places located on Earth’s fault lines, in case disaster strikes. Another way to prepare? Analyzing the structural stability of buildings subject to these havoc-wreaking seismic events. Read more
Imagine you’re on a road trip, cruising down the highway at 60 mph. To maintain this speed, you decide to turn on cruise control. After all, you’re on vacation — why not let the car do the work for you? Whether you go up- or downhill, the car reacts to the change in speed, accelerating or slowing down automatically. This type of process control is thanks to a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. Using simulation, engineers can optimize this kind of control device. Read more
This model exemplifies the analysis of strong wind flow around a solar panel and the corresponding structural displacement due to the wind’s load. The solar panel is located in an array of equally spaced identical panels, which allows for the assumption that the periodic flow conditions can be applied in the streamwise direction. Read more
COMSOL Client for Android™ stelt ingenieurs, wetenschappers en studenten in staat om simulatietoepassingen uit te voeren vanaf een Android™-apparaat. Lees verder
Sometimes, at a certain point in the development of a device, you reach a catch-22. For instance, Fraunhofer Research Institution for Additive Manufacturing Technologies (IAPT) developed a heat sink design with an optimized topology, but the complex geometry made it difficult to manufacture. They found a solution in a type of additive manufacturing, but the method comes with its own restrictions. To find the best heat sink design, they needed a way to reconcile these issues… Read more
When exciting or terminating an RF device with a specific impedance value on a location where the transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode is expected, the Lumped Port feature is useful. Available in the RF Module, an add-on to the COMSOL Multiphysics® software, the Lumped Portfeature is a boundary condition with many different variations and application areas. Let’s go over a few of them here. Read more
A comprehensive set of functionality is available with the COMSOL Multiphysics® software to compute heat transfer in thin layers. A technical description of how this provides accurate results with minor computational effort could be the purpose of a full blog post and is not detailed here. Instead, we focus on the questions related to the Layered Material technology, available as of version 5.4: What does it do? How can you update existing models? How does your simulation benefit from it? Read more
In a previous blog post, we introduced various physical phenomena that cause damping in structures and showed how such damping can be represented mathematically. Today, we follow up by looking at how to actually include damping in finite element models. Read more
We’ve already determined that the concept of digital twins is more than just hype. In this blog post, we discuss how high-fidelity multiphysics models can be combined with lightweight models and measured data to create digital twins that can be used to understand, predict, optimize, and control the real system and the model of the real system. This is exemplified with a battery pack for hybrid vehicles. Read more
You just got the latest smartphone, game console, or tablet. Eager to use it, you set it down to read the directions — but your child grabs it and starts shaking it around. The good news is that the device probably still works, as the internal electronic components have to be certified to function after experiencing certain shock loads. To analyze the shock response of an electronic part (like a circuit board), engineers can use numerical modeling. Read more
The Learning Center features a series of video tutorials in a self-guided learning environment that gives users a comprehensive introduction to working with the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Read more
Composite materials are heterogeneous materials composed of at least two integrated components. Among the different types of composite materials, layered composite materials are quite common and are widely used for aircraft, spacecraft, wind turbine, automobile, marine, buildings, and safety equipment use cases. Read more
Signal Microwave develops high-frequency coaxial connectors in the RF and microwave industry, including end launch connectors, vertical launch connectors, and field replaceable connectors. At the COMSOL Conference 2018 Boston, Eric Gebhard of Signal Microwave discussed how using the COMSOL Multiphysics® software gives the company both a design and business advantage. Watch the keynote talk and get a quick summary below. Read more
In the 1615 novelDon Quixoteby Miguel de Cervantes, the titular character, who fantasizes about being a medieval knight, mistakes windmills for giants and charges at them, only to get his lance stuck in one of the sails. While modern wind turbine blades don’t have to withstand that kind of pointed force, it’s important to perform stress and modal analyses of blade designs to account for various — and more realistic — structural and environmental loads. Read more
COMSOL is excited to announce the publication of the latest edition of Multiphysics Simulation technical magazine. This new edition highlights the innovations and numerical simulation work of engineers and scientists worldwide. Topics covered range from life-saving wearable technology to protecting the global economy from counterfeit money. Read more
During routine exams, eye care professionals look for common refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. As patients age, doctors also look for presbyopia, a loss of the accommodative amplitude that results long-term in a complete loss of the near vision. The visual accommodation process is complex, and useful eye properties needed to improve diagnosis and presbyopia treatment are difficult to obtain. To address the problem of measuring the refractive index of the lens, researchers developed a reverse engineering technique using simulation. Read more
Earlier this month, simulation engineers and researchers presented their papers and posters at the COMSOL Conference 2018 Boston. Six papers and posters were selected to win awards, with top papers determined by a program committee and top posters determined by popular vote among attendees. Read on to learn what made these papers and posters stand out as award winners among many excellent contributions. Read more
COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.4 features new modeling tools, important performance improvements, a new Composite Materials Module, and COMSOL Compiler™ for creating standalone simulation applications and digital twins. Using COMSOL Compiler™, applications created with the Application Builder can be compiled and distributed as executable files for anyone to use without license file restrictions. Read more
Techniek en wetenschap docenten zijn zich ervan bewust dat potentiële werkgevers op zoek zijn naar afgestudeerden die ervaring hebben met productontwerp en simulatiesoftware. Om aan deze behoefte tegemoet te komen, heeft een professor aan de Universiteit van Hartford baanbrekend werk verricht met het gebruik van simulatie-apps bij bachelorstudenten Werktuigbouwkunde. De apps bieden studenten een eenvoudig te gebruiken interface om realistische simulaties uit te voeren. Lees verder
When a Chladni plate is covered with sand and struck with a violin bow, distinct standing wave patterns form at different resonant frequencies. How does that happen? Find out in this video, where we try forming patterns on a Chladni plate and demonstrate the physics behind the phenomenon with a simulation app.
Engineering and science educators are aware that prospective employers are seeking graduates with skills using product design and simulation software. To address this need, one professor at the University of Hartford has pioneered the use of simulation apps by undergraduate students in the mechanical engineering program. The apps provide students with easy-to-use specialized user interfaces to run realistic simulations and visualize results without any previous training. This inquiry-based learning method enables deeper understanding of the physics and theory. Students can then easily progress to learn more about the underlying model and even build their own simulation apps in the Application Builder that is available in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Read more
In this video, we show you how to model a dipole antenna in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. After watching this video, you will have a solid foundation for creating models of more complex antenna geometries, as the process for building different antenna models is essentially the same.
Learn how multiphysics modeling and simulation apps have transformed the power industry, food industry, process simulation, the acoustics- and beauty industries as well as the design optimization in academia at the COMSOL Conference in Lausanne. Read more
The average human heart beats around 100,000 times in a single day. With each beat, the four valves within the heart open and close, transporting blood unidirectionally through its chambers. By simulating heart valves, medical researchers can study their behavior to address various cardiac health issues. As an example, a team from Veryst Engineering modeled a heart valve opening and closing with the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Read more
The quality of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is often determined by the quality of the mesh used to solve the problem. A good mesh facilitates convergence, reduces memory requirements, and results in accurate solutions. It is therefore worthwhile to invest time and thought into creating the mesh when solving a CFD problem. In this blog post, we describe the factors of a quality mesh and how to prepare a fluid flow model geometry for meshing.
The Doppler effect, or Doppler shift, occurs when the movement of an observer relative to a source (or vice versa) causes a change in wavelength or frequency. Discovered by Austrian physicist Christian Doppler in 1803, this phenomenon is experienced in many different ways, such as when an ambulance passes you by and you hear an audible change in pitch. Using the COMSOL Multiphysics® software, you can model the Doppler effect for acoustics applications.
Thanks to their ability to “tune out” specific frequencies, electromagnetic band gaps (EBGs) are found in many different applications. EBGs can suppress unwanted electromagnetic interference (EMI) and increase electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). These structures are commonly used between nearby antennas, which can help minimize undesirable coupling and thereby enhance their performance. However, using an EBG isn’t always a guarantee for better antenna isolation. To analyze the effectiveness of an EBG, engineers can use the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and add-on RF Module.
Since high-speed communication is inevitable for evolving wireless systems, the demand for a higher data rate, higher frequency, larger spectrum, and wider bandwidth increases. When dealing with a wide bandwidth, multiple devices may have to be deployed in a wireless communication system to filter out unwanted noise and interfering signals, enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, and improve the sensitivity. A single tunable filter can replace these devices, reducing the system’s size and weight and the fabrication cost of multiple components.
The algebraic multigrid (AMG) solver provides robust solutions for large CFD simulations. Available as of version 5.3a of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software, the AMG method only requires one mesh, in contrast to the geometric multigrid (GMG) solver, which requires at least one extra coarser mesh. This eliminates the hassle associated with creating coarse meshes for complex geometries with small details that are difficult to mesh unless a fine mesh is used.
The boundary element method (BEM) is included in the Acoustics Module as a physics interface. This interface, available as of version 5.3a of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software, can be seamlessly combined with interfaces based on the finite element method (FEM) to model, for example, acoustic-structure interaction problems. This functionality expands the range of problems that can be solved with the Acoustics Module. Here, we look into the BEM functionality, examples, and BEM-specific postprocessing.
Complete en duidelijke informatie over de producten die uw organisatie maakt is essentieel om deze op de juiste manier te verkopen, troubleshooten, ontwerpen, assembleren en gebruiken. Technische communicatie is echter zelden in sync met het ontwerpproces. Dat is financieel gezien schadelijker dan u misschien op het eerste ogenblik denkt:
1. Incomplete handleidingen zorgen voor onnodige stilstand van de machine;
2. Het maken van ondersteunend materiaal remt het ontwerpproces (en dus time-to-market);
3. Het handmatig verzamelen van technische data is tijdrovend en achterhaald.
The 2017 COMSOL Conference, held in seven locations across the globe, brought together thousands of engineers, researchers, and designers worldwide. Attendees connected and exchanged best practices in mathematical modeling and multiphysics simulation. Keynote presentations were delivered by industry leaders such as Amgen, W. L. Gore and Associates, and STMicroelectronics. Attendees also got a behind the scenes look at how these organizations develop their designs. Many talks shared how to capitalize on the power of multiphysics modeling by expanding its reach through custom simulation apps.
You can easily describe composition- and temperature-dependent fluid properties using the thermodynamic properties database, available as of version 5.3a of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. For reacting systems, the database computes enthalpy of formation and enthalpy of reaction. For fluid flow and heat and mass transfer, the database can compute viscosity, density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and diffusivity of liquids and gases. For systems with several phases, the thermodynamic properties database computes the composition of the phases at equilibrium.
“Where?” “Of what?” “Why?” These are questions often asked of someone who is planning on getting a tattoo. Another common question: “Is it safe?” You can vet the cleanliness of a tattoo parlor and the artist’s qualifications, but there hasn’t been much research into what happens to ink once it enters the body. A research group recently investigated if tattoo pigment can harm skin and the lymphatic system using techniques such as mass spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence.
COMSOL, toonaangevende leverancier van software voor multifysische vraagstukken, heeft de zojuist de nieuwste versies van haar producten COMSOL Multiphysics® en COMSOL Server™ uitgebracht. Versie 5.3a bevat naast de nieuwste methodieken voor het modelleren ook verbeterde solvers. Verdere nieuwe toevoegingen zijn het modelleren van geheugenmaterialen (Shape Memory Alloys, SMA), een revolutionaire oplosmethode voor capacitief gekoppelde plasma’s (CCP) en een hybride oplosmethode waar zowel de Eindige Elementen Methode als Boundary Element Method worden gebruikt. Veldberekeningen zoals bij akoestiek en elektromagnetisme zullen enorm profiteren van de veel snellere rekentijden.
COMSOL, the leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling and simulation, today made available the latest release of the COMSOL Multiphysics® and COMSOL Server™ products. Version 5.3a provides simulation specialists with cutting-edge modeling tools and increased solver performance. From shape memory alloy (SMA) material models to a revolutionary method for capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) simulations and a hybrid boundary element-finite element (BEM-FEM) method for acoustics and acoustic-structure interaction, customers across all industries and physics areas will benefit from new methods and reduced solution times.
There is a lot we know about the brain, and a lot we don’t. Optogenetics is a relatively new area of study in which light is used to stimulate brain activity and study neurological behavior. Stimulating neurons with light is more precise than electrical stimulation — and safer. Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used simulation to design an optical probe that can be implanted into the brain to stimulate nerve impulses.
Comsol, actief op het gebied van multifysische simulaties en applicaties, gaf het publiek een voorproefje van de nieuwste versie van Comsol Multiphysics en Comsol Server op de jaarlijkse Comsol-conferentie in Rotterdam. Lees meer [Bron: cadmagazine.nl]
COMSOL, the leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling and simulation app deployment, is excited to announce that the latest edition of Multiphysics Simulationmagazine is now available and may be downloaded at: www.comsol.com/offers/multiphysics-simulation-2017. The 2017 edition features how vehicular electrification companies, 5G component manufacturers, and large scientific research groups have all benefitted from using multiphysics simulation tools to tackle the formidable and unique technology challenges they face.
Precision machining and quality of surface finish are major concerns for manufacturers of metal parts. The promise of a contactless method to machine surfaces with submillimeter precision and a clean surface, on metals of almost any hardness, might seem too good to be true. However, such a method,pulsed electrochemical machining(PECM), was the focus of a detailed investigation using numerical modeling presented at the COMSOL Conference 2016 Munich.
Robert Hooke was a Renaissance man with interests including mechanics, timekeeping, biology, art, and architecture. He led an accomplished life and is known for his work in many diverse fields, as well as for writing a popular book on microscopy,Micrographia. Let’s take a step into the past to explore Robert Hooke’s life and achievements.
COMSOL, the leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling, simulation, and application deployment, has published a special edition of its annual publication,COMSOL News, celebrating simulation specialists working in the field of acoustics.
If you were to travel back in time half a billion years to the Ediacaran period, you would find seas full of strange-looking creatures known to paleontologists as the ‘Ediacara biota’, the world’s first large, complex, multicellular lifeforms. We still have a lot to learn about these ancient creatures, including if they could move and how they fed. A research team sought answers to these questions by using CFD simulation to study an extinct organism from Earth’s early oceans:Parvancorina.
Wall-bounded turbulent flows display extreme gradient close to the walls. The most accurate way to treat these gradients is to resolve them using a low Reynolds number model, which is computationally expensive. Industrial applications use wall functions, which model the flow closest to the wall rather than resolving it. Wall functions are robust and efficient, but not particularly accurate. New automatic wall treatment functionality in the COMSOL® software combines the benefits of wall functions and the low Reynolds number model.
COMSOL, the leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling, simulation, and application deployment, has published the latest edition of COMSOL News. The 2017 issue of the company’s annual multiphysics magazine presents how engineers and researchers achieve optimal design through company-wide collaboration enabled by simulation apps.
Due to the complex pumping scheme of high-power CO2 lasers, there are many species and collisions to consider in their analysis. This makes modeling plasma behavior in these devices — a key element in their optimization — a challenging task. Applying a multilevel approach, one researcher used the COMSOL Multiphysics® software to create a full 3D model of planar discharge in a CO2 laser. The results showcase the homogeneity of the discharge while offering further potential for optimizing laser designs.
COMSOL, Inc., the leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling, simulation, and application deployment, today announced the latest release of the COMSOL Multiphysics® and COMSOL Server™ simulation software.
Version 5.3 provides simulation specialists with notable performance improvements and powerful app design and deployment capabilities with new modeling and development tools, solvers, and user-driven features. In many cases, users will experience a speedup of ten times or more in software responsiveness, such as in preprocessing tasks for handling models with several thousand boundaries and domains.
The COMSOL Conference 2017 Boston will be held October 4-6, 2017 at the Boston Marriott Newton hotel. The program committee of the 13th annual COMSOL Conference today invites members of the COMSOL community to submit paper and poster abstracts on their numerical simulation work and custom applications.
Comsol, leverancier van software voor het modelleren van multifysische fenomenen, simulaties, app-ontwerp en verspreiding hiervan, heeft een vernieuwde versie van de LiveLink for SolidWorks uitgebracht. Het is een toevoeging aan de Comsol Multiphysics-software en maakt het mogelijk om een CAD-model te synchroniseren tussen beide softwarepakketten. Lees meer [Bron: cadmagazine.nl]
In certain food and pharmaceutical industries, different types of dryers are used to dry heat-sensitive products. Vacuum dryers offer one solution for removing water and organic solvents from these sensitive substances. For optimal vacuum dryer design performance, engineers need to balance the dual needs of a rapid drying time and high-quality end products. To achieve this, you can study the vacuum drying process with the COMSOL Multiphysics® software.
Marie Curie is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity, a word she herself coined. Besides her many honorary degrees and memberships in societies across the globe, she is well known for her two Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry. As today is the anniversary of her birthday, we’d like to take a brief look into her life and major achievements.
Today, we invite guest blogger Bauke Kooger of Delft University of Technology to discuss modeling a magnetic suspension system for the Hyperloop.
The Hyperloop is a proposed mode of transportation in which a vehicle, or pod, travels at the speed of sound through a low-pressure tube. At this speed, a magnetic suspension offers several advantages over systems such as air bearings or wheels. To test this, Delft’s Hyperloop team modeled their pod’s magnetic suspension in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software.
COMSOL is excited to announce that the latest edition of Multiphysics Simulation is now available and may be downloaded at: www.comsol.nl/offers/mphsim16. The 2016 edition features articles on a range of topics, including 5G simulation apps, implantable medical devices, organic LEDs, , and high efficiency photonic switches.
COMSOL, Inc. the leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling, simulation, app design and deployment, provided attendees with the latest updates of COMSOL Multiphysics® software, COMSOL Server™ product, and COMSOL Client at the 12th annual COMSOL Conference Munich. The latest update of the COMSOL® software features major performance increases and the release of the Rotordynamics Module, which is now available as an add-on product to the Structural Mechanics Module.
Attendees at the COMSOL Conference 2016 were introduced to the latest developments of COMSOL® software version 5.2a.
COMSOL, Inc. the leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling, simulation, app design and deployment, provided attendees with the latest updates of COMSOL Multiphysics® software, COMSOL Server™ product, and COMSOL Client at the 12th annual COMSOL Conference Munich. The latest update of the COMSOL® software features major performance increases and the release of the Rotordynamics Module, which is now available as an add-on product to the Structural Mechanics Module.
Piezoelectric valves are frequently employed in medical and laboratory applications due to their fast response times and quiet operation. Their energy efficient operation, also dissipates little heat, which is often important for these applications.
Companies developing new and improved power transformer equipment incur costs for prototyping and testing as they work to reduce transformer hum. At ABB, a team of engineers develops multiphysics simulations and custom-built applications to offer insight into their designs. read more [source: eurekaknowledge.co.uk]
In the previous part of our Electromagnetic Device series, we showed you how to model a linear electromagnetic plunger attached to a spring and damper and compute the position, velocity, and electromagnetic forces. Here, we will demonstrate an actuator that includes a blocker/stopper to restrict linear motion. We will also discuss how to model the contact and release of this actuator using the Events, Magnetic Fields, Moving Mesh, and Global ODEs and DAEs interfaces.
Nieuwste versie van COMSOL Multiphysics® en COMSOL ServerTM leggen de nadruk op nauwkeurigheid, gebruiksgemak en productiviteit
De nieuwste versie van COMSOL Multiphysics® en COMSOL Server™ stelt specialisten in numerieke simulaties in staat hun multifysica modellen om te bouwen naar simulatie apps en deze te delen met collega’s en hun wereldwijde klanten.
User-Driven COMSOL® Software Updates Now Available in Version 5.2a
Feedback from users like you helps us continuously enhance COMSOL Multiphysics® and COMSOL Server™ with the functionality you need most. When you needed to solve your models faster, wanted more visualization options, or when you hoped for a quicker way to model your application, you told us about it. And we are happy you did, because your feedback powered the release of version 5.2a.
The latest release of the COMSOL Multiphysics® and COMSOL Server™ products provide numerical simulation specialists with the leading integrated CAE software environment for creating multiphysics models and building simulation apps that can be easily deployed to collaborators and customers worldwide.
COMSOL, Inc. has published the latest edition of COMSOL News, the company’s annual multiphysics journal reporting on its customers innovative applications. The 2016 edition focuses on simulation specialists bringing multiphysics to everyone so companies can easily develop, clearly communicate and readily distribute designs across teams and client bases.
Are you solving turbulent flow problems in your CFD analyses? Then you may be familiar with the large computation time that can result from difficulties in finding the numerical solution.
COMSOL Conference 2015, the largest event for multiphysics simulation, brought together thousands of engineers, researchers, and designers worldwide to share how the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and its Application Builder are being used in multiphysics simulation and custom application design around the world. Experts produced over 750 user-contributed papers, posters, and presentations highlighting R&D projects and best practices in electrical, mechanical, fluid, and chemical engineering.
Year by year, wearable technology grows in popularity for both consumer and medical applications. These devices are meant for continued use, but the heat that they produce could lead to malfunction and burns if not properly designed.
Inductors are used in many applications for low pass filtering or for impedance matching of predominantly capacitive loads. They are used in a wide frequency range from near static up to several MHz. An inductor usually has a magnetic core to increase the inductance, while keeping its size small.
Today, guest blogger and Certified Consultant Giuseppe Petrone of BE CAE & Test discusses creating apps to perform thermal analyses of electronic devices.
When manufacturing electronic devices, leading companies often look to simulation in order to thermally characterize their products. At BE CAE & Test, we have found a more efficient way of answering such requests: designing apps that are tailored to our customers’ needs. Our surface-mount device app, presented here, is just one testament to what apps can achieve.
Wireless power transfer involves the transfer of power between a transmitting and a receiving unit and is used to wirelessly charge electronics like mobile phones and electric cars. While wireless power transfer offers many benefits, there are some challenges that this technology encounters. This is where simulation comes in handy. For instance, some WPT technologies must be oriented in a certain way to ensure proper performance. Today, we’ll analyze the impact of orientation on the functionality of two WPT antennas.
COMSOL Releases the Latest Version of Software for Creating Simulation Apps
COMSOL today announced the release of COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.2 providing the simulation community the only fully integrated environment for creating simulation apps.
Within the research community — and on the COMSOL Blog — graphene has been a topic of great interest. The unique properties that make this material so remarkable can also make it challenging to analyze. In simulation, a particularly difficult question to address is whether graphene should be modeled as a 2D sheet or a thin 3D volume. We provide answers to this question in today’s blog post.
Adjusting the focal length of a camera lens allows you to change your angle of view. Miniature lenses can achieve this change by using a method called electrowetting. Electrowetting involves changing the balance of forces at a contact point of a free surface and a solid by applying a voltage. However, focus is not obtained immediately due to oscillations in the free surface. Here, we investigate the optimal viscosity for critically damping the free surface when a voltage is applied.
When modeling a manufacturing process, such as the heating of an object, it is possible for irreversible damage to occur due to a change in temperature. This may even be a desired step in the process. With the Previous Solution operator, we can model such damage in COMSOL Multiphysics. Here, we will look at the “baking off” of a thin coating on a wafer heated by a laser.
In electromagnetics simulations, the ultimate goal is to boost the efficiency and productivity of your device by closely mimicking the effects observed in reality. This process requires an understanding of the reality you are trying to describe and mimic, as well as the details that should be included. Let’s explore the reality of electromagnetic waves with regards to the measurement environment.
The program committee of the 11th annual COMSOL Conference today invites engineers and researchers to submit paper and poster abstracts to be considered for presentation at the world’s largest conference on multiphysics simulation. The COMSOL Conference brings together more than 2,000 engineers, researchers, and scientists worldwide, providing them with the chance to showcase their work, share innovative technologies and best practices, as well as the opportunity to interact with the makers of COMSOL Multiphysics®. Presenting a poster, paper, or both at the COMSOL Conference is a unique opportunity for COMSOL Multiphysics users to achieve widespread recognition within a skilled community of engineers.
COMSOL announced the opening of a new office in Moscow, Russia. The new office provides sales and support for the growing community of COMSOL Multiphysics® users in Russia. Services include local sales, technical support, training sessions, and on-site workshops, seminars, and customer visits.
Want to share your simulations with the world or simply your own team? After you build an application with the Application Builder in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software, you can share your app using a COMSOL Server™ license with anyone from colleagues to customers. Here is your introduction to COMSOL Server™ — what it is, why to use it, and a brief overview of how to get started.
COMSOL, Inc., the leading provider of multiphysics simulation and analysis software, today announces that the COMSOL Multiphysics® software version 5.0 has been named 2014 Product of the Year by readers of NASA Tech Briefs.