Technical Papers and Presentations

An investigation was undertaken into the suitability of using COMSOL for modeling an aircraft capacitive fuel gauging unit. A model of a sensor immersed in a fluid was developed for rectangular tank geometry with a range of fluid levels and sensor orientation using the electrostatics application mode in COMSOL’s AC/DC module

The importance of modeling the capacitance of air was demonstrated. An initial offset of 16pF was corrected by modeling air capacitance into COMSOL model. Simulated results were validated experimentally. Experimental measurements and simulated model results fitted closely within a limit of 6.83pF.

These preliminary results indicate a good correlation between the model simulations and experimental measurements, suggesting that the software is suitable for modeling aircraft fuel gauging unit.