Modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics®

When work flows as it should, the modeling process will work in an intuitive and smooth fashion.

This demonstration introduces the concept of Multiphysics Modeling, and its applicability to the field of simulating scientific and engineering applications. It then goes on to summarize how multiphysics applications can be modeled by COMSOL Multiphysics®.

Creating Geometries in the COMSOL CAD Environment

The next step in modeling is to define either the geometrical dimensions of your component, or the dimensional space that describes your process. Here, you will see how you can work with geometries in COMSOL Multiphysics.

In particular, the demonstration summarizes creating and manipulating your geometries using the built-in CAD tools.

Importing and Manipulating Geometries

The CAD Import Module is an additional package that allows for geometries designed in commercial CAD tools to be imported into COMSOL Multiphysics. These geometries can then be manipulated using a number of in-built features.

In particular, the demonstration summarizes:

• Importing geometries from a CAD tool
• Defeaturing geometries to reduce mesh size
• The live interaction with SolidWorks®

User-defined and Interactive Meshing

With your model defined, you need to discretize or mesh your model before solving. COMSOL Multiphysics® has an automatic meshing feature, with a large number of tools for manipulating your subsequent meshes.

Summarized in this demonstration is:

• The structured and unstructured meshing capabilities
• Swept meshing
• Interactive meshing
• Importing mesh and creating geometries from a mesh
• Adaptive meshing

Multiphysics and the Model Navigator

You start the definition of your physics from the Model Navigator by choosing one, or more, Application Modes or Pre-defined Multiphysics Couplings. The Model Navigator also contains a Model Library full of solved, fully-documented examples.

Then you can manipulate your model’s physics, material properties, source terms and boundary settings from COMSOL Multiphysics' interfaces. This can include making use of the Material Library or including your own arbitrary equations. Finally, the demonstration shows how use of the Component Library can significantly reduce modeling similar components in an overall assembly.

Using and Fine-tuning the Solvers

COMSOL Multiphysics® contains solvers for the following:

• Stationary problems
• Eigenvalue analyses
• Parametric analyses
• Time-dependent problems

These are summarized in this demonstration. Also shown is how you can control them from the Solver Parameters dialog, to fine-tune their parameters or incorporate preconditioning. The solving mechanism can also be steered from the Solver Manager dialog, for running consecutive schemes or manipulating the solver script.

Postprocessing your results

Only half the work is done once your model has been solved. Postprocessing your results is how you best communicate your simulations to the wider community. Visually or mathematically, postprocessing is easily handled in COMSOL Multiphysics®

Here, you will see how to:

• Manipulate the visualization parameters to best see your results
• Integrate and treat your results mathematically
• Export and work with your models and data in COMSOL Script
• Present your work as a report