Latest Posts
Using a Microfluidic Valve to Separate Charged Particles
When you think of a valve, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Electromagnetic waves, or perhaps, Stokes flow separating charged chemicals in a microchannel system? Maybe neither. The truth is, when researchers try to separate small (in the picoliters region), well-defined sample volumes of chemicals, the dispensing accuracy provided by a mechanical regulator probably won’t suffice. An electrokinetic valve, a type of microfluidic valve, on the other hand, provides the perfect solution by giving researchers the flow […]
Hear About Designing Efficient Appliances from Mieletec FH Bielefeld
In 1898, Carl Miele and Reinhard Zinkann founded the Miele company. Since then, it has grown into one of the world’s foremost producers of household appliances, including washing machines and cooking devices for both domestic and professional use. Miele has created a joint research laboratory, mieletec, with the University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld, Germany. There, the foundations are being laid for the next generation of resource and energy efficient household appliances. This October, you have the chance to hear […]
Analyzing Electrical and Thermal Conductance in a Contact Switch
A contact switch is used to regulate whether or not an electrical current is passing from a power source and into an electrical device. These switches are found in many types of equipment and they are used to control, for example, the power output from a wall socket into a device when it is plugged in; the currents passing across the circuit board of a computer; or the electricity powering a light bulb when the switch is flipped on. Because of their […]
ETREMA to Talk About Transducer Design using Smart Materials
Julie Slaughter and her team at ETREMA Products are in the enviable position as the sole U.S. provider of the smart material Terfenol-D, and developer of products based on this material. Terfenol-D is said to produce giant magnetostriction that boasts strains 100 times higher than traditional magnetostrictive materials, such as iron. Just imagine the possibilities of applications harnessing this amazing material property. If you’re attending the COMSOL Conference in Boston this October, you will hear ETREMA talk about transducer design […]
Success Stories and Limitations of 3D Printing
From supporting research to creating custom prosthesis, what doesn’t 3D printing seem to promise these days? We all know 3D printing has arrived, and the technology is already being put into practice by companies and tech-savvy consumers everywhere. It seems there’s a new 3D printing success story published every day, and no matter how fascinating, it makes you wonder about the wider repercussions and limitations of 3D printing.
Density-Driven Fluid Flow in Porous Media
There are many different forces that can induce flow in fluids, such as kinetic energy, pressure gradients, concentration gradients, and many more. In natural systems, one effect that can initiate fluid flow in a still fluid is a change in density. This density change will result in a change in the fluid’s buoyancy, thus inciting flow as the denser fluid sinks and the less dense, buoyant, fluid rises. You’re probably most familiar with these changes in density occurring due to […]
Fatigue Prediction Using Critical Plane Methods
Research on fatigue started in the 19th century, initiated following failing railroad axles that caused train accidents. In a rotating axle, stress varies from tension to compression and back to tension in one revolution. The load history is simple because it is uniaxial and proportional. Fatigue can then be evaluated with the S-N curve, also known as the Wöhler curve, which relates stress amplitude to a component’s life. In many applications we deal with multiaxiality and non-proportional loading. In this […]
Acoustics Tutorial for Modeling Organ Pipe Design
The way the sound is shaped as it passes through the pipe of an organ is the result of a carefully calculated and intricate pipe design. Browsing through the Model Gallery, I came across a model of an organ pipe, and it happens to be a great acoustics tutorial for using the Pipe Acoustics, Frequency Domain interface in COMSOL Multiphysics. Let’s talk organ pipe design, and walk through how we can model it with multiphysics software.