Heat Transfer | Posted on January 10th, 2013 by Fanny Littmarck
Nanorods are synthetic nanoscale objects used in the area of nanotechnology. They can be synthesized from semiconducting materials or metals, such as gold. The applications of nanorods are many, ranging from display technologies and energy harvesting to cancer therapy.
Electrical | Posted on January 9th, 2013 by Fanny Littmarck
Engineers and scientists are known to step up to the challenges posed by nature. After developing an understanding of how the current object or process works, the next step often includes figuring out how to manipulate the situation to improve said object or process. One such example is cloaking; controlling light and sound waves to render something invisible. Phys.org recently ran a story on progressive research on controlling magnetic fields via cloaking to harvest and transfer energy using a magnetic shell design with a hollow center. What they didn’t mention, was that the researchers used COMSOL Multiphysics in the process.
Read more on: Magnetic Shells Designed to Improve Energy Transfer
Interfacing | Posted on January 8th, 2013 by Fanny Littmarck
There are traditional acoustic guitars made of wood, and now there are also those made entirely out of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Do these plastic guitars sound like their wooden forbearers? Guess what, you can use computer modeling to find out.
Read more on: Researching Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Acoustic Guitars
Fluid | Posted on January 7th, 2013 by Fanny Littmarck
If I asked you to envision a wind turbine, odds are you’d picture a wind farm in some remote location. With good reason; that’s commonly where they are found. If you’re a student or faculty of Case Western Reserve University, on the other hand, you might think of the wind turbine you have on campus. Does it make sense to set up wind turbines in urban settings? These two researchers suggest that it does.
Read more on: Wind Turbines in Urban Settings a Reasonable Idea
Events | Posted on January 4th, 2013 by Kristen O'Connor
Advancing skills and learning to get the most out of modeling work is on the mind of many of our users. With technology moving at an aggressive rate, it’s important to keep up and not fall behind. This is why many long-standing and new COMSOL users are choosing to attend multiphysics training courses. If your New Year’s resolution is to become more productive on the job, you should consider registering for our multiphysics Training Courses.
Read more on: Here’s to a Productive New Year: Multiphysics Training Courses
Fluid | Posted on January 3rd, 2013 by Valerio Marra
Nature is full of counter-intuitive phenomena; I’m fascinated by everyday examples like the one we talked about this summer, sinking bubbles in a pint of Guinness, but I have to say that engineering has its fair share of such examples too. The concept of heat exchange in coaxial pipes struck me as a student, as it showed me the relentless tinkering attitude typical of engineers wanting to optimize their design. In this kind of heat exchanger both streams, hot and cold, may flow in the same direction (parallel-flow) but normally engineers prefer to reverse the direction of one stream (counter-flow), as they have found it to be more efficient. The simplicity of this design idea is striking; it’s not at all intuitive for a young engineer-to-be.
Read more on: Efficient Heat Exchanger, it’s all in the Pipes
Electrical | Posted on January 2nd, 2013 by Fanny Littmarck
Transistors are building blocks of electronic appliances, and can be found in radios, computers, and calculators, to name a few. When working with electrical systems you typically have to deal with heat transfer; electric heating is often an unwanted result of current conduction. Is a heat sink mounting necessary to keep the transistor cool, or can it manage without? Let’s have a look at power transistors from a heat transfer perspective.
Heat Transfer | Posted on January 1st, 2013 by Andrew Griesmer
We have been adding a lot of content to our website lately, involving the new LiveLink™ for Excel®. It’s a welcomed addition to the COMSOL family and we can’t stop talking about it. We want to make sure everyone knows about the strengths of LiveLink™ for Excel®, and how it can make your modeling easier, more efficient, and more powerful. Now we have another video for you, and this one demonstrates how to add data from Excel® to a COMSOL model.
Read more on: Video Tutorial: Adding Data from Excel® to a COMSOL Model
Multiphysics | Posted on December 31st, 2012 by David Kan
Hydraulic fracturing (popularly referred to as “fracking”) is a method to increase production of oil and gas from certain types of geological formations. It has been used for decades, but recently, as the practice has increased, fracking has become a controversial topic. I will avoid taking sides in this debate, but the fact that there is a conflict implies there needs to be a deeper understanding of the process and its effects.
Read more on: Is Fracking Safe? Scientists Turn to Simulation to Investigate
Mechanical | Posted on December 28th, 2012 by Fanny Littmarck
The Pratt truss is one of several different types of truss bridge designs out there. Said to be the oldest type of modern bridge, the truss is simple and lends itself well to analysis. This type of bridge is typically constructed for the use of pedestrians, cars, trucks, trains, and pipelines.
