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Best Way to Model a Gradient of Materials?

Posted May 17, 2023, 1:15 p.m. EDT Geometry, Materials, Equation-Based Modeling Version 6.1 1 Reply

Jacob Mingear
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Hi,

I have seen a few discussions on the topic but I have not found something that looks like the obvious or smart way to implement it.

What is the best way to model a gradient of materials? Note: that I have materials defined already and I want to change the volume fraction over a direction.

  • Is it an equation-based method based on volume fraction of already defined materials? (I have not seen a way to do this yet, but seems smart)
  • Do I make an "effective material" that combines my already defined materials for a certain volume fraction? Effectively I have a tabulation of materials per "layer"; lots of inputs required and a new "effective material" for each layer (not smart)
  • Is there another method?

Any guidance would be appriciated. Thank you.

Jacob Mingear

1 Reply Last Post May 17, 2023, 1:36 p.m. EDT
Jeff Hiller COMSOL Employee

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Posted: 2 years ago May 17, 2023, 1:36 p.m. EDT
Updated: 2 years ago May 17, 2023, 2:05 p.m. EDT

Hi Jacob,

Any material property in the COMSOL software can be expressed as a function of location (either as an explicit function of the coordinates, or implicitly as a function of some quantity/ies that varies/y spatially and which could either be computed by the software or interpolated between data points imported into the software).

The function itself may take the form of a mathematical expression or could be the result of a call to a function programmed in MATLAB (assuming your license includes LiveLink for MATLAB) or scripted in Java (model method).

As you see, there are lots of options. Which one is best for you I am unable to tell from your message. It may help if you gave more information about the physical situation you are trying to model, the data you have available, in what form, etc.

Also, this video may be quite helpful to you.

Best,

Jeff

-------------------
Jeff Hiller
Hi Jacob, Any material property in the COMSOL software can be expressed as a function of location (either as an explicit function of the coordinates, or implicitly as a function of some quantity/ies that varies/y spatially and which could either be computed by the software or interpolated between data points imported into the software). The function itself may take the form of a mathematical expression or could be the result of a call to a function programmed in MATLAB (assuming your license includes LiveLink for MATLAB) or scripted in Java (model method). As you see, there are lots of options. Which one is best for you I am unable to tell from your message. It may help if you gave more information about the physical situation you are trying to model, the data you have available, in what form, etc. Also, [this video](https://www.comsol.com/learning-center/use-functions-define-material-property) may be quite helpful to you. Best, Jeff

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