Blog Posts Tagged User Perspectives
Thermal Analysis Measures Blistering Heat
If you roast a turkey for dinner and you need to check the temperature, the technology exists to find it. But what happens if the temperature is so hot that a consumer-grade thermometer, or any man-made device, really, would instantly melt and be destroyed? This might not be a common occurrence in your kitchen, but it is a real concern in blast furnaces, where temperatures can reach close to 1,500°C. Simply guessing is far from safe. Luckily, by simulating with […]
A Recipe for Induction Stove Design Using Multiphysics Simulation
When I was little, I used to love spending the night at my grandparents’ house, where I was allowed to watch TV, stay up late, and in the morning, help my grandmother make pancakes. The hardest part was always waiting for her old, slow electric burner to heat up — to my six-year-old self, it seemed to take hours for the burner to become hot enough after we’d finished mixing the batter. Luckily for me, and for other impatient chefs […]
Mesh Refinement for Wave Problems
This week we are happy to have Kyle Koppenhoefer of AltaSim Technologies as a guest blogger. As COMSOL Certified Consultants, AltaSim can share valuable insights into using the software — today on the topic of meshing wave problems. As part of our efforts to assist COMSOL users in performing high-quality analysis, we recently used our bi-monthly email to remind users to include twelve degrees of freedom per wavelength when meshing wave problems. This article builds on our previous advice. Wave-type […]
On Solvers: Benefits and Limits of Solution Methods
This week we have the honor of having Professor Wolfgang Joppich as a guest blogger. As you may know, COMSOL Multiphysics provides great default solvers for all applications. For the interested user, it is good to know that you can optionally tune or completely change the solver settings. We strongly recommend that you read this blog posting to get an experts’ perspective on the solver technologies offered by COMSOL. I am an avid reader of the COMSOL Blog and an […]
Upgrading the Nuts and Bolts of the Electrical Grid
The electrical grid describes the network created for producing electricity, transmitting it and delivering it to the consumers. A “smart grid” is an electrical grid that gathers information on the suppliers and consumers automatically to improve efficiency and sustainability in the system. As the automated technology improves, the hardware that physically connects the electrical grid together must improve as well. This hardware, the “nuts and bolts” of the grid, is comprised of transformers, cable joints, terminations, bushings, and fault current […]
Fluid Flow: Smooth Optical Surface in Minutes
Ultra-precise optical components require blemish-free surfaces that often cannot be achieved by the machining processes that grind these components. Fluid jet polishing (FJP) is a new technology being developed by Zeeko Ltd to replace the hand polishing that was often required. With the help of COMSOL, Zeeko was able to create a product that polishes the optical components in only ten minutes instead of an entire day, and without waveforms.
Injectable Microbubbles in Hydrology and Healthcare
Microbubbles filled with oxygen can be injected into contaminated lakes to restore the water quality. Typically, water is purified via water-treatment plants, but this microbubble technique is both inexpensive and more environmentally-friendly in comparison. As seen in a COMSOL News 2011 article, oxygen microbubbles are a researcher’s way of copying nature’s own self-restoration mechanism for cleaning contaminated lakes.
The Science of Cooking, Multiphysics meets Food
It’s that time of year again for all the foodies out there; on January 29th the 2013 Bocuse d’Or will be in full swing with 24 chefs each representing their country, vying for the Gold Medal in the Olympic Games of the culinary world. In this biennial event, the chefs will have to combine classical and innovative cooking techniques to come out on top. At the last Bocuse d’Or in 2011, Gunnar Hvarnes propelled past the competition with the aid […]
Industry: Continuum Blue Simulates Structural Mechanics
On January 10th, hundreds of people tuned in to hear COMSOL and Continuum Blue discuss Structural Mechanics simulations in certain industry applications. As promised in my previous blog post on multiphysics modeling webinars happening in 2013, here is a round-up of the event — including a video excerpt detailing three structural analysis examples presented by Continuum Blue.
Is Fracking Safe? Scientists Turn to Simulation to Investigate
Hydraulic fracturing (popularly referred to as “fracking”) is a method to increase production of oil and gas from certain types of geological formations. It has been used for decades, but recently, as the practice has increased, fracking has become a controversial topic. I will avoid taking sides in this debate, but the fact that there is a conflict implies there needs to be a deeper understanding of the process and its effects.
Multiphysics Simulation for Better and Faster Sonar Development
SOund NAvigation Ranging, or Sonar, has been an important part of naval warfare and since the 1950’s. Although it is a relatively simple way to locate objects, it’s the best for doing so in water, emitting sound waves and listening for echoes made by objects in the water. In today’s world of undersea warfare, the threats and the necessary responses to them are becoming more important and urgent. Sonar systems are required to detect these threats, making it necessary for […]
Lightning-Proof Wind Turbines
Here’s a story we’ve all heard before: due to the inefficient nature and inevitable decline of fossil fuels, alternative energy resources are becoming increasingly popular. Wind energy is a popular source of alternative energy, with wind farms sprouting up all over the world. Here’s something you may not have thought about: lightning strikes are a major problem for these wind turbines. Intuitively, places with high wind speeds also have stormy weather, and a 150 meter tall metal pole makes an […]
Simulation-Based Design of New Implantable Hearing Aids
Growing older is an inevitable part of life, and with it, our body slowly begins to show that. I recently started wearing eye glasses because my eyesight is weakening. It’s a little unnerving, but I am comforted by the ever-improving technology being produced. My hearing is still fully intact, but the same cannot be said for 17% (36 million) of American adults who report some degree of hearing loss. In most cases, regular hearing aids are sufficient in treating hearing […]
First Keynote Video Takes Us to Babel
One of the differences between this year’s COMSOL Conference, and previous years’, is that this year we filmed a lot of it. During the next few weeks we will be publishing some of these videos for those that were there, to enjoy it once again, and for those that weren’t to get a taste of what went on. To kick these all off, I’m proud to present the first keynote video, which takes us to Babel.
Modeling Scar Effects on Electrical Spinal Cord Stimulation
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a treatment for chronic back pain that has been around for over 40 years. It involves implanting electrodes that apply electric potentials directly to the spine, interfering with the human pain signaling circuitry. The body attempts to send pain signals to the brain, but the electrodes act as a barrier preventing the signals from reaching the brain. Although an overall successful method for treating back pain, researchers have been improving on the design since the […]
Fatigue — When Cyclic Stress Produces Fractures
Many of the products that engineers design experience cyclic stresses during use that are below the material’s yield stress; unfortunately, these stresses can still be the primary reason for failure. Thus, engineers and designers must find ways of including the effects of cyclic stresses when designing products for long-term use.
The Stresses Subsea Cables are subjected to
In these days of globalization, keeping the world connected is imperative. Information needs to pass as freely and quickly as possible in order to keep markets up-to-date with the latest news and to ensure that commerce can be conducted without hindrance (at least of the technical kind). So what do you do – look to the sky? The answer is no; in fact, 99% of this information is carried by undersea cables. These unsung heroes sit at the bottom of […]
Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Helps Increase a Car’s Efficiency
Much has been written lately about increasing the energy efficiency of cars. Batteries and fuel cells are very hot topics, and not so long ago I blogged about the University of Michigan’s use of solar cells to fully power a car. Yet, even on the smallest of scales, such as the sensors in your car, improvements are being made. Utilizing a MEMS (Micro Electromechanical System) piezoelectric energy harvester, Alexander Frej and Ingo Kuehne at Siemens Corporate Technology in Munich are […]
Impedance Boundary Conditions Help in Modeling Nondestructive Testing (NDT)
How do you simplify a 3D geometry to reduce the computational resources required to model it? Do it in 2D. What if the phenomenon can only be properly simulated in 3D? Find the planes of symmetry and reduce the size, most engineering objects are symmetric in some way. What if there is no symmetry, such as the propagation of random cracks through a steel pipe? Well, as this story from COMSOL News 2012 shows, there are other methods, such as […]
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.
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.
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.