Coupled PDEs with Initial Solution from Data in COMSOL Multiphysics®

M. K. Gobbert[1], X. Huang[1], S. Khuvis[1], S. Askarian[1], B. E. Peercy[1]
[1]University of Maryland - Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
Published in 2013

This paper presents information on techniques needed in COMSOL Multiphysics® to enable computational studies of coupled systems of PDEs for time-dependent non-linear problems. Furthermore, we demonstrate how to use data files as input for initial conditions. To illustrate the techniques, we consider a system of two time-dependent non-linear PDEs from mathematical biology that couples an excitation variable and a recovery variable. This physiological process is characterized by the visual appearance of a double spiral wave, a reaction-diffusion wave of the excitation variable that moves through the domain in a spiraling, recurrent curl pattern.