Multiphysics modeling and simulation helps organizations innovate faster, smarter, and at lower cost. Incorporating the COMSOL Multiphysics® software into the R&D workflow enables engineering teams to build accurate models of real-world designs, devices, and processes as well as create their own standalone simulation apps to spread the benefits of multiphysics modeling to more teams, departments, and customers. This ultimately leads to a stronger understanding of product behavior and quicker answers during the development cycle.
Today marks the release of COMSOL Multiphysics® version 6.3, which makes the software even more powerful through enhanced modeling capabilities, improved user experience, and GPU acceleration for acoustics simulation and surrogate model training. It also features new tools for automatically preparing geometries that result in higher-quality meshes and a new add-on module for modeling electric discharges and breakdown in gases, liquids, and solids.
Why Multiphysics?
Models represent real-world counterparts and the world around us is multiphysics in nature. In other words, being able to fully couple two or more physics phenomena is essential for generating numerical simulations that accurately mimic reality.
As an example, let’s consider a loudspeaker. We could measure just the magnetic field in the voice coil in a single-physics model, but it may be more useful to also study how the magnetic field interacts with the other loudspeaker components to create force and vibrations. Using COMSOL Multiphysics®, it’s simple to add and couple however many physics phenomena are needed for a realistic model. In the loudspeaker case, we would then couple electromagnetics, structural mechanics, and acoustics for the complete analysis. There are no limitations for which phenomena or how many phenomena can be coupled in your COMSOL models.
Left: A single-physics loudspeaker model visualizing the electromagnetic force acting on the voice coil. Right: A multiphysics model that also accounts for the acoustic–structure interaction.
That said, the COMSOL Multiphysics® software is a modeling and simulation platform that provides both fully coupled multiphysics and single-physics modeling capabilities. This means that engineers and scientists across industries and disciplines can use one modeling software with a consistent user interface for all types of models. In short, multiphysics modeling helps organizations make smarter design decisions, generate new ideas, reduce costs for physical prototypes and experiments, and speed up product development.
Since models represent real-world counterparts, they need to behave according to the laws of physics, but how they look matters, too. By adding the right texture and colors and thoughtful lighting, it becomes easier to visualize the model as the real object it represents and understand the underlying process. Depending on what type of analysis you’re running, the choice of plot type or color table may also affect how you interpret the results. The COMSOL Multiphysics® software platform includes functionality for building geometries, assigning materials, and meshing as well as a host of visualization features.
Adding environmental reflections to bring an electric motor model to life.
Combining different plot types to create movement in a mixer.
Including realistic materials to show the inner workings of a loudspeaker driver.
Overview of the COMSOL® Modeling and Simulation Software
The simulation-driven R&D workflow is most successful when colleagues across teams, departments, organizations, and enterprises are able to access and contribute to the creation of accurate models that can be used for innovation, design, and optimization. To that end, the COMSOL Multiphysics® platform includes three main workspaces:
- Model Builder
- Contains all of the functionality that modeling and simulation specialists need to build, solve, visualize, and evaluate physics-based models.
- Application Builder
- Provides the modeling specialists with user-friendly tools for building custom simulation apps for use by colleagues and customers.
- Model Manager
- Provides a structured workspace for organizing models and apps, with version control, search and filter functionality, and efficient storage, as well as functionality for copying sequences of operation from one model to reuse in another.
Left: The Model Builder showing the setup and results of an IGBT module, which is a multiphysics model. Middle: The Application Builder as it appears while building a simulation app. Right: The Model Manager, demonstrating the feature for comparing two model files.
One Software Environment, Any Engineering Field
Depending on the task at hand, you may want to extend the core modeling functionality with specialized features. There are various add-on modules that contain features specific to electromagnetics, structural mechanics, acoustics, fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical engineering. Since the COMSOL® software is a multiphysics software, everything from the product suite connects seamlessly through the platform product. Additionally, you can easily interface with CAD and other third-party software via the LiveLink™ products.
Tip: See how organizations around the world use COMSOL Multiphysics® in the User Story Gallery.
Standalone Simulation Apps Accelerate Innovation
Anyone with a COMSOL Multiphysics® software license can build and maintain their own simulation apps. Anyone who also adds COMSOL Compiler™ can turn their apps into standalone executable files that can be distributed to anyone and run anywhere in the world. Through standalone apps, colleagues can test design variations without taking up the modeling specialist’s time. Even those far removed from the modeling specialist can use apps to forecast outcomes based on specific inputs and make decisions based on simulation results without knowing how to set up and run the underlying model (or in some cases without even knowing they are using multiphysics simulation in the first place).
The drag-and-drop of user interface components and widgets in the Application Builder makes it straightforward to build apps that contain custom interfaces with inputs and outputs tailored to a specific need — offering the app user all of the benefits of simulation without having to put effort into building the underlying model. Compiling them into standalone apps is as easy as clicking a button and it is up to you if you want to sell your apps or provide them for free, add password protection or share unrestricted, set an expiration date, and so on. When you build your own standalone apps with the COMSOL® software, you are in full control over how many apps you make, to whom you distribute them, and in what way.
Now, some organizations may prefer complete control over who has access to their simulation apps and which versions of the apps should be available. In that case, they can upload, manage, and run their apps through their own COMSOL Server™ environment instead of compiling them into standalone apps. COMSOL Server™ comes with administrative tools for managing user access to apps, user accounts and groups, and multiprocessor utilization.
Building Lightning-Fast Simulation Apps with Surrogate Models
The Application Builder in COMSOL Multiphysics® as well as the add-on product COMSOL Compiler™ have been around for many years. Then, in 2023, we made it possible to build lightning-fast apps by releasing functionality for training surrogate models using machine learning. When you include data-driven surrogate models in your simulation apps, users of the apps will get near-instantaneous simulation results based on their inputs. That’s because surrogate models are trained to approximate the behavior of more computationally expensive, full-fledged finite element models, without sacrificing accuracy. Today, with the release of COMSOL Multiphysics® version 6.3, the process of training surrogate models is itself much faster thanks to support for performing the training on the graphics card.
The Timer events feature can be used to trigger the execution of methods without user interaction, such as contacting external servers, running simulations, and updating the user interface of a simulation app. The ability to both use surrogate models and link simulation apps to external sensors, databases, and web services, means that it is possible to build and operate apps as effective digital twins.
More News in the Latest Version of COMSOL Multiphysics®
The new version upgrades the core functionality of the COMSOL Multiphysics® platform and introduces many new features across the product suite to bring users even better modeling capabilities than before. It also introduces a new add-on module.
No one likes waiting, especially when it comes to getting model results. Our developers are continuously working on improving solver speed to cut down on how long it takes various models to solve, while maintaining accuracy (of course). The big news in this area for version 6.3 is that there is GPU support for simulating pressure acoustics in the time domain, which means that users working on room acoustics can get their modeling results up to 25x faster than before.
The acoustics inside an office environment.
Get more details about the GPU support and all other acoustics news in the Acoustics Module release highlights.
Electric Discharge Module
There is a new specialized add-on module to the COMSOL Multiphysics® platform for predicting the impact of electric discharges on the performance of systems such as the power grid, consumer electronics, air- and spacecraft, and medical technology. The module comes with functionality that makes it straightforward to model electric discharges in gases, liquids, and solid dielectrics for the analysis of streamer, corona, dielectric barrier, and arc discharges. Learn more about these news in the Electric Discharge Module release highlights.
A streamer discharge propagating in transformer oil.
Automated Geometry Preparation for Better Meshes
All users of COMSOL Multiphysics® can benefit from the new geometry functionality that automatically detects and removes small details and gaps in imported geometries. This is a big time saver in terms of preparing geometries for meshing and results in higher-quality meshes and smaller overall simulation sizes as well. You can see these updates in action in the geometry release highlights.
Improved User Experience for an Even More Efficient Modeling Workflow
For simulation software to add the most value to any organization, it has to be easy to use. The overall look-and-feel of the COMSOL Multiphysics® user interface (UI) has a bit more breathing room in the latest version and the ribbon resizes seamlessly when you reduce the window size. We have also made several other usability improvements as well, including:
- A new Data Viewer window for inspecting and editing parameter and declaration values, which is accessible no matter where you navigate within the UI.
- Improvements to searching and filtering that make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
- New graphics color themes.
- Visualization features that make it easier to analyze results.
The refreshed look of the COMSOL Multiphysics UI.
The animated camera transitions provide smooth movements when viewing different parts of a model.
All of the UI and visualization news are covered in more detail in the COMSOL Desktop® release highlights page and results and visualization release highlights page, respectively.
Next Steps
New to COMSOL Multiphysics®? Let us know what you’re working on and we’ll share information relevant to your business needs.
If you want to read about all software updates in detail, head on over to the COMSOL Multiphysics® version 6.3 release highlights page.
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