Latest Posts
Lowering Water Levels by not Taking Away the Water
Düsensauginfiltration (DSI) is a novel technique for lowering water levels at mining and construction sites while not actually having to transport the water away from these sites. This came to my attention at the latest COMSOL Conference in Stuttgart. There, Ph.D. student Yulan Jin and Assistant Professor Dr. Ekkehard Holzbecher from the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany was presenting their research into this groundwater lowering technique.
Investigating the Fundamentals of an “Old” Technology
Transformers were first commercially used in the late 1800’s, but they are still being investigated at their fundamental levels. One of the stories from our latest COMSOL News concerns ABB (who themselves have been around since the late 1800’s) and their research into these apparatuses.
Singing Sand Leads to Many Questions
I know, I know… I should spend the weekend relaxing. But every place I visit offers me a variety of natural phenomena I wasn’t aware of and, as an engineer and a multiphysics enthusiast, I can’t help but sit in the sun jotting down a list of the physics involved – possible coupling mechanisms, boundary conditions, materials, and so on (we talked about stereotypes attached to engineer on our Facebook page in May).
A Cooling Story for These Sweltering Days
I have just come back from a bit of a vacation and boy was it hot! Here, a large part of the US has been going through record high temperatures and most of my time was spent trying to keep cool. How nice then to mention a story about cooling.
Space Fuel: Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Produce Plutonium-238
The end of July marks the beginning of a $20 million R&D project led by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to produce and process plutonium-238. The U.S. space program will be using the Pu-238 that is to be produced by ORNL as fuel for future deep-space missions.
Improving Ultrasound Imaging Systems by Directing Sound Waves
In an earlier blog post, I commented on how acoustic waves are being used in a biomedical setting, to identify malaria in small fluid samples. A more traditional use of piezoelectric devices was written about in the latest COMSOL News. Here, an Italian company, Esaote S.p.A., uses them to produce improved ultrasound imaging systems.
Inventing Makes use of Simulation
One of the interesting stories to come out of the latest COMSOL News concerned a couple of great researchers, Dr. Ozgur Yildirim and Dr. Zihong Guo, and how they use simulations in their inventing process. They work in an invention/prototype laboratory in Bellevue, WA for Intellectual Ventures, a global leader in the business of invention.
SAWs are also used to Manipulate and Mix
I have always connected Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs) as phenomena useful for sensors; where SAW devices act as the medium that transfers mechanical energy (of what you’re measuring) to electrical (what’s used to measure it). SAWs would occur at the surface of a piezoelectric device, mechanically changing it, and then the resulting electrical behavior would be used to provide the measurement. We have a great example that shows how such things can be modeled in a SAW gas sensor.