COMSOL 6.3 - Appendix G — The Application Library Examples

Geometry parts and parametric geometries

•

•

Dark theme

•

Use of subwindows

•

Material appearance visualization with environment reflections

•

Report generation for both Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® PowerPoint

•

Options for setting different mesh sizes

•

Improved graphics visualization when showing and hiding different geometry objects

•

Enabling and disabling ribbon items based on the solution state.

Helical static mixers are often used to mix monomers and initiators which then react during a polymerization process. The concentration field is included in the analysis in order to compute the extent of mixing between two streams injected into the static mixer through semicircle-shaped inlets.

The app can be used to estimate the degree of mixing in a system including one to five helical blades whose dimensions can also be varied. The monomers' liquid properties and inlet velocity can also be varied.

This application does not require any add-on products.

Transmission Line Calculator

Creating apps for small screens such as smartphones

•

•

User-interface navigation with a top menu typically used on websites

•

Dynamically hiding forms using card stacks to minimize the space required by the app

•

Changing appearance by using different background colors.

Transmission line theory is a cornerstone in the teaching of RF and microwave engineering. Transmission lines are used to guide waves of electromagnetic fields at radio frequencies. They exist in a variety of forms, many of which are adapted for easy fabrication and employment in printed circuit board (PCB) designs. Often, they are used to carry information, with minimal loss and distortion, within a device and between devices.

Electromagnetic fields propagate along transmission lines as transverse electromagnetic (TEM) waves. The Transmission Line Parameter Calculator app computes resistance (R), inductance (L), conductance (G), and capacitance (C) as well as the characteristic impedance and propagation constant for some common transmission lines types: coaxial line, twin lead, microstrip line, and coplanar waveguide (CPW).

This application does not require any add-on products.

Tubular Reactor

Sending an email with a report when the computation is finished

•

•

User-defined email server settings

•

Playing a sound when the computation is completed

•

Language localization

•

Options to visualize plots tiled or tabbed.

The app exemplifies how students in chemical engineering can model nonideal tubular reactors (radial and axial variations) and investigate the impact of different operating conditions. It is also a great example of how teachers can build tailored interfaces for problems that challenge the students’ imaginations.

The model describes a tubular reactor where propylene oxide (A) reacts with water (B) to form propylene glycol (C):

A + B -> C

Since water is the solvent and present in abundance, the reaction kinetics may be described as first order with respect to propylene oxide

R = k*C_A

Alternatively, a second-order reaction can also be implemented according to

R = kf*C_A*C_B - kr*C_C

The reaction is exothermic and a cooling jacket is used to cool the reactor. The reactor is modeled in 2D axisymmetry and the simulation results yield composition and temperature variations in both the radial and axial directions.

This application does not require any add-on products.

Tubular Reactor Surrogate Model Application

This alternative version of the Tubular Reactor app demonstrates how computational speed can be significantly increased by using a surrogate model instead of a full finite element model. A surrogate model is a simplified, computationally efficient approximation of a more complex and resource-intensive model. By enabling faster evaluations, the surrogate model enhances interactivity.

Adjusting input parameters via sliders, with near-instantaneous updates to the solution retrieved from the surrogate model

•

•

Comparing the surrogate model solution with the full finite element solution

•

Efficient geometry sampling for data generation to be used for surrogate model training.

In this case, the surrogate model is a Deep Neural Network (DNN). The surrogate model has 5 input parameters in total: 3 for the activation energy, thermal conductivity, and heat of reaction, and 2 for the spatial coordinates.

This application does not require any add-on products.

Thermal Actuator Surrogate Model Application

The Thermal Actuator Surrogate Model Application demonstrates how the computational speed can be increased with the use of a surrogate model.

Adjusting input parameters via sliders, with near-instantaneous updates to the solution retrieved from the surrogate model

•

•

Comparing the surrogate model solution with the full finite element solution

•

Efficient geometry sampling for data generation to be used for surrogate model training.

The 3D surrogate model has 8 input parameters: 5 input parameters, that include geometry dimension and applied voltage, and 3 input parameters for the x,y, and z coordinates.

This application does not require any add-on products.

For more information on this app and surrogate models in general, see the COMSOL Learning Center course on surrogate modeling:

https://www.comsol.com/support/learning-center/article/94521/261.

Tuning Fork

Playing a sound at a specific computed frequency

•

•

Selecting different materials from a combo box

•

Visualizing material appearance, color, and texture

•

Choice of three different user interface layouts for computer, tablet, or smartphone

•

Custom implementation of the secant method

•

Custom window icon.

When a tuning fork is struck, it vibrates in a complex motion pattern that can be described mathematically as the superposition of resonant modes, also known as eigenmodes. Each mode is associated with a particular eigenfrequency. The tuning fork produces its characteristic sound from the specific timbre that is created by the combination of all of the eigenfrequencies.

The app computes the fundamental resonant frequency of a tuning fork where you can change the prong length. Alternatively, you can provide a user-defined target frequency and the application will find the corresponding prong length using an algorithm based on a secant method.

This application does not require any add-on products.

B-H Curve Checker

Importing measured data from a text file

•

•

Handling measured data using methods

•

Exporting the results to a text file.

The app can be used to verify and optimize B-H curves using experimental data. It also generates curve data in the over-fluxed region, where measurement are difficult to perform. It removes the unphysical ripples of the slope of the B-H curve that might cause numerical instability.

The original B-H curve is evaluated from two aspects. Firstly, to verify that the extrapolation of the curve is reasonable from the physical point of view. Secondly, to check if the slope of the curve is smooth. The optimization algorithms are mainly based on the simultaneous exponential extrapolation method and the linear interpolation method, respectively.

The app requires the original curve data defined in a text input file. Once the curve is imported, the application checks if optimization is required. By clicking the button, the user can generate the optimized curve data, which can be exported to a text file.

This application does not require any add-on products.

Induction Heating of a Steel Billet

•

Using tables for user input parameters

•

•

Visualization on a 2D cross-section of a 3D geometry

•

Improved visualization and user experience when a geometry object (the air object) is hidden.

Induction heating is a method used to heat metals for forging and other applications. Compared with more traditional heating methods, such as gas or electric furnaces, induction heating delivers heating power directly to the piece in a more controlled way and allows for a faster processing time.

The app is used to design a simple induction heating system for a steel billet, consisting of one or more electromagnetic coils through which the billet is moved at a constant velocity. The coils are energized with alternating currents and induce eddy currents in the metallic billet, generating heat due to Joule heating. The billet cross section; the coil number, placement, and size; as well as the initial and ambient temperature and the individual coil currents can all be specified as inputs in the app.

This application requires the AC/DC Module.

Effective Nonlinear Magnetic Curves Calculator

Importing measured data from a text file

•

•

Handling measured data using methods

•

Exporting the results to a text file

•

Exporting the results as COMSOL Material Library file.

The app is a companion to the Effective Nonlinear Constitutive Relations functionality. Magnetic-based interfaces in the AC/DC Module support the Effective HB/BH Curve material model that can be used to approximate the behavior of a nonlinear magnetic material in a frequency domain simulation without the additional computational cost of a full transient simulation.

The Effective HB/BH Curve material model requires the effective Heff(B) or Beff(H) relations defined as interpolation functions. This utility app can be used to compute the interpolation data starting from the material’s H(B) or B(H) relations.

The interpolation data for the H(B) or B(H) relations can be imported from a text file or entered in a table. The app then computes the interpolation data for the Heff(B) or Beff(H) relations using two different energy methods. The resulting effective material properties can be exported as a COMSOL Material Library file and be further used in a model with the Magnetic Fields interface.

This application does not require any add-on products.

Organ Pipe Design

Using tables for presenting results.

•

Using a Java® utility class for combining several waveforms and for playing sound

•

The app allows you to study the design of an organ pipe and then play the sound and pitch of the changed design. The pipe sound includes the effects of different harmonics with different amplitudes.

The organ pipe is modeled using the Pipe Acoustics, Frequency Domain interface. The app allows you to analyze how the first fundamental resonance frequency varies with the pipe radius and wall thickness, as well as with the ambient pressure and temperature.

Using the app, you can find the full frequency response, including the fundamental frequency and the harmonics. With a method written in Java®code, the app detects the location and amplitude of all harmonics in the response, thus extending the analysis beyond the built-in functionality of the COMSOL Multiphysics user interface.

This application requires the Acoustics Module.

Lithium Battery Designer

This app can be used as a design tool to develop an optimized battery configuration for a specific application. The application computes the capacity, energy efficiency, heat generation, and capacity losses due to parasitic reactions of a battery for a specific load cycle.

Various battery-design parameters consist of: geometrical dimensions of the battery canister, the thicknesses of the different components (separator, current collectors and electrodes), the positive electrode material, and the volume fractions of the different phases of the porous materials can be changed. The load cycle is a charge-discharge cycle using a constant current load, which may be different for the charge and discharge stages.

The app also computes the battery temperature (assuming an uniform internal battery temperature), based on the generated heat and the thermal mass. Cooling is defined using an ambient temperature parameter and a heat transfer coefficient.

This application requires the Battery Design Module.

Li-Ion Battery Pack Designer

Dynamic help system using card stacks

•

•

Multiple components (1D and 3D) in a single app

•

Toggle buttons in the ribbon for showing different input, hiding/showing geometry selections, and for dynamic help

•

Importing experimental data

•

•

Options for creating different mesh sizes

•

Resetting a portion of the input parameters or all

•

Generating a results table during the app session

•

Exporting results to a text file or to Microsoft® Excel if a license of LiveLink™ for Excel® is available

•

Sliders and buttons to control the time step to plot

•

Visualizing results with animations

•

Custom window icons.

It is a tool for investigating the dynamic voltage and thermal behavior of a battery pack, using load cycle and SOC vs OCV dependence experimental data.

Parameter estimation of various parameters such as the ohmic overpotential, the diffusion time constant, and the dimensionless exchange current can be performed by the app. The app may then be used to compute a battery pack temperature profile based on the thermal mass and generated heat associated with the voltage losses of the battery.

Various battery pack design parameters (packing type, number of batteries, configuration, geometry), battery material properties, and operating conditions can be varied.

This application requires the Battery Design Module.

Li-Ion Battery Impedance

The goal with this app is to explain experimental electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements and to show how you can use a simulation app, along with measurements, to estimate the properties of lithium-ion batteries.

The app takes measurements from an EIS experiment and uses them as inputs. It then simulates these measurements and runs a parameter estimation based on the experimental data.

The control parameters are: the exchange current density, the resistivity of the solid electrolyte interface on the particles, the double-layer capacitance of NCA, the double-layer capacitance of the carbon support in the positive electrode, and the diffusivity of the lithium ion in the positive electrode. Fitting is done to the measured impedance of the positive electrode at frequencies ranging from 10 mHz to 1 kHz.

The application requires the Battery Design Module.

Water Treatment Basin

Parametric geometry containing a geometry sequence with if-statements to produce different types of designs

•

•

Options to set the mesh size

•

Light Theme

•

A graphical user interface that includes different windows that can be shown or hidden.

Water treatment basins are used in industrial-scale processes in order to remove bacteria or other contaminants.

The app exemplifies modeling turbulent flow and material balances subject to chemical reactions. You can specify the dimensions and orientation of the basin, mixing baffles, and inlet and outlet channels. You can also set the inlet velocity, species concentration, and reaction rate constant in the first-order reaction.

The app solves for the turbulent flow through the basin and presents the resulting flow and concentration fields as well as the space-time, half-life, and pressure drop.

The application requires the CFD Module.

Reaction Equilibrium—Gas Phase Conversion of Ethylene to Ethanol

How an app can be used as a teaching tool

•

•

An 8 question multiple choice quiz where the answers can be sent to the grader by email

This app calculates the equilibrium compositions in gas phase conversion of ethylene to ethanol. It allows you to study how the initial conditions and the operating conditions affect the ethanol production.

The app is designed to teach you how to compute quantitative results for the equilibrium composition and provide an understanding for the dynamics of a chemical equilibrium.

The application requires the Chemical Reaction Engineering Module.

Cyclic Voltammetry

The purpose of the app is to demonstrate and simulate the use of cyclic voltammetry. You can vary the bulk concentration of both species, transport properties, kinetic parameters, as well as the cycling voltage window and scan rate.

Cyclic voltammetry is a common analytical technique for investigating electrochemical systems. In this method, the potential difference between a working electrode and a reference electrode is swept linearly in time from a start potential to a vertex potential, and back again. The current-voltage waveform, called a voltammogram, provides information about the reactivity and mass transport properties of an electrolyte.

The application requires one of the Battery Design Module, Electrochemistry Module, Electrodeposition Module, Corrosion Module, or Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer Module.

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

The purpose of this app is to understand EIS, Nyquist, and Bode plots. The app lets you vary the bulk concentration, diffusion coefficient, exchange current density, double layer capacitance, and the maximum and minimum frequency.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a common technique in electroanalysis used to study the harmonic response of an electrochemical system. A small, sinusoidal variation is applied to the potential at the working electrode, and the resulting current is analyzed in the frequency domain.

The real and imaginary components of the impedance give information about the kinetic and mass transport properties of the cell, as well as the surface properties through the double layer capacitance.

The application requires one of the Battery Design Module, Electrochemistry Module, Electrodeposition Module, Corrosion Module, or Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer Module.

Concentric Tube Heat Exchanger

•

User option to switch between laminar flow or turbulent flow

•

•

Changing boundary conditions using methods

•

Visualizing temperature dependent material properties as graph plots

•

User option to set the solver tolerance.

Finding the right dimensions for a heat exchanger is imperative to ensure its effectiveness. Other properties must also be considered in order to design a heat exchanger that is both of the right size and provides heated or cooled fluid of the right temperature.

The app computes these quantities for a heat exchanger made of two concentric tubes. The fluids can flow either in parallel or in counter current flow.

The fluid properties, heat transfer characteristics, and dimensions of the heat exchanger can all be varied. The Nonisothermal Flow multiphysics interface is used to model the heat transfer.

This application requires the Heat Transfer Module.

Equivalent Properties of Periodic Microstructures

Visualization of a periodic structure from a unit cell

•

•

Resetting some or all input parameters

•

Export the resulting material properties as an MPH-file or an XML file that can be imported to a COMSOL Multiphysics session.

Periodic microstructures are frequently found in composite materials, such as carbon fibers and honeycomb structures. They can be represented by a unit cell repeated along three directions of propagation.

To reduce computational costs, simulations may replace all of the microscopic details of a composite material with a homogeneous domain with equivalent properties. This app computes the equivalent properties for a geometrical configuration and the material properties of a unit cell to be used in a macroscopic model that uses these composite materials.

Nine different microstructures are given, with dimensional characteristics that are modifiable by the user, as well as thirteen predefined materials. The app calculates the equivalent density, heat capacity, and thermal conductivity or diffusivity of the composite materials.

This application does not require any add-on products.

Finned Pipe

Geometry parts and parameterized geometry

•

•

A results table form object containing outputs.

Finned pipes are used for coolers, heaters, or heat exchangers to increase heat transfer. They come in different sizes and designs depending on the application and requirements.

When the fins are placed outside the pipe, they increase the heat exchange surface of the pipe so that a cooling or heating external fluid can exchange heat more efficiently. When placed inside the pipe, it is the inner fluid that benefits from an increased heat exchange surface. Instead of fins, grooves can also increase the heat exchange surface, particularly inside the pipe where space is limited.

With this app, you can customize a long cylindrical pipe with predefined inner and outer fins or grooves to observe and evaluate their cooling effects. The app calculates the thermal performance of a pipe that is filled with water and then cooled or heated by surrounding air with forced convection.

Various geometric configurations are available for the outer structure (disk-stacked blades, circular grooves, helical blades, helical grooves, or none) and for the inner structure (straight grooves or none).

The app computes the dissipated power and the pressure drop as functions of the geometry and air velocity.

This application requires the Heat Transfer Module

Forced Air Cooling with Heat Sink

•

Sending an email with a report when the computation is finished

•

•

User-defined email server settings which is useful when running compiled standalone applications

•

Options for setting different mesh sizes

•

Error control of input parameters using methods.

Heat sinks are usually benchmarked with respect to their ability to dissipate heat for a given fan curve. One possible way to carry out this type of experiment is to place the heat sink in a rectangular channel with insulated walls.

The temperature and pressure at the channel’s inlet and outlet, as well as the power required to keep the heat sink base at a given temperature, is then measured. Under these conditions, it is possible to estimate the amount of heat dissipated by the heat sink and the pressure loss over the channel.

The purpose of the app is to carry out investigations of such benchmarking experiments. You can vary the type of heat sink as well as the number of fins or pins and their dimensions to find the optimal design for a given pressure loss over the channel.

Air velocities and heat source rates can be varied and the app solves for nonisothermal flow, assuming turbulence as described by the algebraic yPlus model.

This application requires the Heat Transfer Module.

Inline Induction Heater

A model using symmetry while the results are visualized in full 3D

•

•

Provides info if the results are above or below certain critical values

•

Error control of geometry parameters using methods and presentation of possible errors using card stacks

•

•

Sliders and buttons to control the position of the slice when visualizing the results with a slice plot.

The app computes the efficiency of a magnetic induction apparatus for the heating of liquid food flowing in a set of ferritic stainless steel pipes.

Ferritic stainless steels become more and more used in food processing due to their relatively low and stable price, and their magnetic properties that allow using new heating techniques.

A circular electromagnetic coil is wound around a set of pipes in which a fluid flows. The alternating current passing through the coil generates an alternating magnetic field that penetrates the pipes, generates eddy currents inside them, and heats them up. Then heat is transferred to the fluid essentially by conduction.

Various configurations are available for the set of pipes (number, length, thickness, material) and for the coil (number of turns, wire radius, current density, and excitation frequency) to optimize the heat exchange with the fluid, while ensuring homogeneous temperatures within it for a given flow rate.

This application requires the Heat Transfer Module and the AC/DC Module.

Thermoelectric Cooler

Visualizing material appearance, color, and texture

•

•

Showing info below the graphics about geometry parameters, results, and performance depending on the selected plot action

Thermoelectric coolers are widely used for electronics cooling in various application areas, ranging from consumer products to spacecraft design. A thermoelectric module is a common type of component used in thermoelectricity applications. A typical module consists of several thermoelectric legs sandwiched between two thermally conductive plates, one cold and one hot. The device that needs to be cooled down must be attached to the cold face.

Due to the variety of applications, there can be many different thermoelectric cooler configurations. This app covers the basic design of a single-stage thermoelectric cooler of different sizes with different thermocouple sizes and distributions. It also serves as a starting point for more detailed calculations with additional input options and can be extended to multistage thermoelectric coolers.

This application requires the Heat Transfer Module, AC/DC Module, and Optimization Module. Instead of the AC/DC Module you could alternatively use the MEMS Module or the Plasma Module.

Mixer

Multiple tabs in the ribbon

•

•

Parts and cumulative selections can be used to automatically set domain and boundary settings in the embedded model

•

•

Adding or removing geometry parts with different geometrical configuration

•

Options for creating different mesh sizes

•

Sending an email with a report when the computation is finished

•

User-defined email server settings which is useful when running compiled standalone applications

•

Sliders to control the visualization of a slice plot.

The app provides a user-friendly interface where scientists and process engineers can investigate the influence that vessels, impellers, baffles, and operating conditions have on the mixing efficiency and on the power that is required to drive the impellers. You can use this application to understand and optimize the design and operation of a mixer for a given fluid.

You can specify the dimensions of the vessel from a list of three types and the dimensions and configuration of the impellers from a list of eleven types. The vessels can also be equipped with baffles. You can further specify the impeller speed and the properties of the fluid that is being mixed.

The application requires either the CFD Module or the Polymer Flow Module.

Charge Exchange Cell Simulator

A charge exchange cell consists of a region of gas at an elevated pressure within a vacuum chamber. When an ion beam interacts with the higher-density gas, the ions undergo charge exchange reactions with the gas which then create energetic neutral particles. It is likely that only a fraction of the beam ions will undergo charge exchange reactions. Therefore, in order to neutralize the beam, a pair of charged deflecting plates are positioned outside the cell. In this way, an energetic neutral source can be produced.

This app simulates the interaction of a proton beam with a charge exchange cell containing neutral argon. User input includes several geometric parameters for the gas cell and vacuum chamber, beam properties, and the properties of the charged plates that are used to deflect the remaining ions.

The simulation app computes the efficiency of the charge exchange cell, measured as the fraction of ions that are neutralized, and records statistics about the different types of collisions that occur.

This application requires the Particle Tracing Module and the Molecular Flow Module.

Truck Mounted Crane Analyzer

Using the knob form object

•

•

Updating the geometry by rotating a knob

•

Provides info if the results are above or below certain critical values

Many trucks are equipped with cranes for handling loads and such cranes have a number of hydraulic cylinders that control the motion of the crane. These cylinders and other components that make up the crane are subjected to large forces when handling heavy loads. In order to determine the load-carrying capacity of the crane, these forces must be computed.

In the app, a rigid-body analysis of a crane is performed in order to find the payload capacity for the specified orientation and extension of the crane.

Inputs include the angle between the booms, the total extension length, the capacity of the inner and outer boom cylinders, and the capacity extension cylinders. Results from the app include the payload capacity and hydraulic cylinder usage.

The application requires the Multibody Dynamics Module.

General Parameter Estimation

Importing measured data from a text file or use built-in functionality for data generation

•

•

Automatically change solver options based on the input

•

Dynamically update the equation display.

The app can be used to estimate parameters in models without any physics. Data can be imported from a file or the built-in functionality for data generation can be utilized.

The models include linear, quadratic, sigmoid, sloped Gaussian, and a custom model with up to 5 parameters.

The Levenberg–Marquardt solver computes confidence intervals for the estimated parameters, while the other solvers (MMA, SNOPT, and BOBYQA) allow for specification of parameter bounds. MMA and BOBYQA allow for minimization of the maximum square instead of the sum.

The application requires the Optimization Module.

Geothermal Heat Pump

Changing the design by using a combo box with predefined options

•

•

Options for creating different mesh sizes

•

Editing and plotting monthly data input

•

Setting the end time and the time steps size of a time-dependent simulation

•

Visualizing the initial values for a time dependent simulation

•

Includes a simple control system to manage the temperature.

Geothermal heating is an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient method to supply modern and well insulated houses with heat. Heat exchangers placed at a sufficient depth in the ground below the house utilize subsurface heat, where temperatures are almost constant throughout the year.

The app studies different pipe configurations of a ground heat exchanger. It provides information on the performance of ground-coupled heat exchangers for different specifications (depth, pattern, pipes configuration, and heating conditions), temperature conditions, soil thermal conductivity, and temperature gradient.

The heater can also be turned off if the daily heat demand is achieved, and then turned on again after 24 hours. The temperature at the pipe’s outlet can be controlled and compared to the minimum temperature required in the heat exchanger specifications.

This application requires the Pipe Flow Module.

Solar Dish Receiver Designer

Solar concentrator/cavity receiver systems can be used to focus incident solar radiation into a small region, generating intense heat which can then be converted to electrical or chemical energy. A common figure of merit in solar thermal power systems is the concentration ratio, or the ratio of the solar flux on the surface of the receiver or in the focal plane to the ambient solar flux.

This app is an application based on the Solar Dish Receiver tutorial model. In this app, incident solar radiation is reflected by a parabolic dish, while the concentrated solar radiation is collected in a small cavity. A total of six different parameterized cavity geometries are available for investigation: Cylindrical, Dome, Heteroconical, Elliptical, Spherical, and Conical. It is also possible to take several different types of perturbation into account, including solar limb darkening and surface roughness. For each cavity geometry, built-in plots show the flux distribution and concentration ratio in the focal plane as well as the incident flux on the interior surfaces of the cavity.

You can learn more about this example in a related blog post: “Efficiently Optimizing Solar Dish Receiver Designs”: https://www.comsol.com/blogs/efficiently-optimizing-solar-dish-receiver-designs.

This application requires the Ray Optics Module.

Corrugated Circular Horn Antenna

A toolbar with large buttons for the navigation instead of a ribbon

•

•

Subforms used as sections and the sections' headings include an image

•

Provides info if the results are within a certain range

•

Visualizes a 2D axisymmetric model in full 3D

The excited TE mode from a circular waveguide passes along the corrugated inner surface of a circular horn antenna where a TM mode is also generated. When combined, these two modes give lower cross-polarization at the antenna aperture. By using this app, the antenna radiation characteristics, as well as aperture cross-polarization ratio can be improved by modifying the geometry of the antenna.

This application requires the RF Module.

Frequency Selective Surface Simulator

Designing an app for small screens such as smartphones

•

•

User-interface navigation with a top menu typically used on websites

•

Visualizing periodicity of a geometry with material rendering

•

•

Warning messages on icons when properties are not updated

•

Sending an email with a report attached when the computation is finished

Frequency selective surfaces (FSS) are periodic structures that generate a bandpass or a bandstop frequency response. They are used to filter or block RF, microwave, or, in fact, any electromagnetic wave frequency. For example, you see these selective surfaces on the doors of microwave ovens, which allow you to view the food being heated without being heated yourself in the process.

The app simulates a user-specified periodic structure chosen from the built-in unit cell types. It provides five unit cell types popularly used in FSS simulations along with two predefined polarizations in one fixed direction of propagation that has normal incidence on the FSS. The analysis includes the reflection and transmission spectra, the electric field norm on the top surface of the unit cell, and the dB-scaled electric field norm shown on a vertical cut plane in the unit cell domain.

You can change the polarization, center frequency, bandwidth, number of frequencies, substrate thickness and its material properties, and unit cell type (circle, ring, split ring, and so on) as well as their geometry parameters, including periodicity (cell size).

This application requires the RF Module.

Microstrip Patch Antenna Array Synthesizer

Visualizing material appearance, color, and texture

•

Parameterized geometries

•

•

Multiple plots in the same window to visualize the results

•

Options to visualize the results with different views using checkboxes

Microstrip patch antenna arrays are used in a number of industries as transceivers of radar and RF signals. This is a prime candidate for the 5G mobile network system.

The app simulates a single slot-coupled microstrip patch antenna, fabricated on a multilayered low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) substrate. When using this app, you will be able to simulate the far-field radiation pattern of the antenna array and its directivity. The far-field radiation pattern is approximated by multiplying the array factor and the single antenna radiation pattern to perform an efficient far-field analysis without simulating a complicated full-array model.

You can also evaluate phased antenna array prototypes for 5G mobile networks with a default input frequency of 30 GHz. You can do this by varying antenna properties such as the geometric dimension and substrate material.

This application requires the RF Module.

Rotor Bearing System Simulator

Navigation system using toggle buttons in the ribbon and Back/Forward buttons in the settings window

•

•

Using a table for input of geometry objects

•

The app simulates a rotor bearing system consisting of disks and bearings mounted on a rotating shaft. An eigenfrequency analysis is performed for a range of angular speeds, to identify critical speeds of the system.

An app of this kind is useful at an early design stage where design modifications can be made to move critical speeds away from the operating speed of the system.

Results include whirl modes, a Campbell plot, and a list of critical speeds.

This application requires the Structural Mechanics Module and the Rotordynamics Module.

Si Solar Cell with Ray Optics

Multiple components (1D and 3D) in a single app

•

•

Using the same choice list in the app as in the model using Data Access functionality

•

Output numerical results for a specific time step using a combo box

The app combines the Ray Optics Module and the Semiconductor Module to illustrate the operation of a silicon solar cell at a location specified by the user. The Ray Optics Module computes the average illumination over a day of the year. The Semiconductor Module computes the normalized output characteristics of a solar cell with design parameters specified by the user. The normalized output characteristics is then multiplied by the computed average illumination to obtain the output characteristics of the cell at the specified date and location, assuming simple linear relationship between the output and the illumination.

Beam Section Calculator

•

Reading and importing data from an Microsoft® Excel file

•

Exporting data to an Microsoft® Excel file

The app computes the beam section properties and true stress distribution in a designated steel beam section. A broad range of American and European beam standards are available. It uses LiveLink™ for Excel® to read and store the beam data in Excel® worksheets.

This application requires the Structural Mechanics Module and LiveLink™ for Excel®. A version of this app is also provided without Microsoft® Excel functionality.

Bike Frame Analyzer

Setting a maximum allowed value which the solution is compared to

•

Connecting an app to a SOLIDWORKS® session

•

•

Changing boundary conditions with a combo box using methods

•

The app computes the stress distribution and the deformation of a bike frame based on user configurable loads and constraints. It leverages LiveLink™ for SOLIDWORKS® to load the geometry, and to update the frame dimensions for studying their effect on the results.

This application requires the Structural Mechanics Module and LiveLink™ for SOLIDWORKS®.

Fiber Simulator

For almost all commercial optical fiber types, the design consists of a concentric layer structure with the inner layer(s) forming the core and the outer layer(s) forming the cladding. Since the core has a higher refractive index than the cladding, guided modes can propagate along the fiber.

This application performs mode analyses on concentric circular dielectric layer structures. Each layer is described by an outer diameter and the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index. The refractive index expressions can include a dependence on both wavelength and radial distance. Thus, the simulator can be used for analyzing both step-index fibers and graded-index fibers. These fibers can have an arbitrary number of concentric circular layers. Computed results include group delay and dispersion coefficient.

This application requires the Wave Optics Module.

Plasmonic Wire Grating