Sequential Simulation in COMSOL using Differential Equations to Perform Digital Switching

L. Lam, and R. Darling
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Published in 2011

Many physical systems contain sequential modes of operation. The sequence is one-way and switching between modes is dependent upon specific internal parameters of the system itself.

While COMSOL provides the flexibility to perform time-domain simulation and time-based modifications of boundary conditions, simulating sequential systems based upon internal physical variables in COMSOL can be a formidable challenge due to the lack of a built-in method to sequentially change boundary conditions based on calculated parameters.

In this paper, a systematic, flexibly customizable, differential equation based approach that allows the simulation of such sequential state machines is presented. While the methodology was developed in COMSOL 3.5a, it is equally applicable for 4.1.

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