COMSOL Multiphysics Version 4.0 Now Shipping
5/2/2010 7:10:00 PM
COMSOL Multiphysics® version 4.0 delivers the COMSOL Desktop™, an all-new user interface that makes it easy for users to build and run simulations.
New breakthrough user interface makes the power of multiphysics simulation available to a wider audience.
BURLINGTON, MA (April 30, 2010)— COMSOL Inc. announces that version 4.0 of its multiphysics simulation software is now shipping. First unveiled at the 2009 users conference in Boston, COMSOL Multiphysics version 4.0 features an all-new user interface that makes the power of multiphysics simulation available to a wider audience of scientists and engineers. Both expert analysts and non-experts alike will benefit from the organized layout and streamlined model-building process. Along with the release of version 4.0, COMSOL also announces the release of a series of new LiveLink™ options that tightly integrate COMSOL Multiphysics into the mainstream product design workflow. New LiveLink products are now shipping for Autodesk® Inventor®, Pro/ENGINEER®, SolidWorks®, and MATLAB®.
''It feels great to make version 4.0 available,'' comments Svante Littmarck, President and CEO of COMSOL, Inc. ''We believe this release represents a bold step forward in usability that will increase productivity and problem solving capacity.'' Version 4.0 is also a platform for accelerating the pace of development of new functionality. ''Customers will notice this effect in the very near future: version 4.0a, available this June, includes three new modules for CFD, Plasma, and Batteries & Fuel Cells,'' says Littmarck.
COMSOL Desktop - New Breakthrough User Interface
Model set up is smooth and direct, making tough problems quick and easy to solve. Version 4.0 brings an unprecedented level of clarity to product design simulation by combining an organized model overview and a streamlined model-building process in the new COMSOL Desktop. It uses functional form, structure, and aesthetics as the means to achieve simplicity for modeling complex physical realities. For instance, task-specific tools appear on the Desktop right when you need them and show only the currently possible and necessary actions. This helpful user convenience removes uncertainty from model building and brings order to simulations.
ZINK Imaging, the inventor of the ZINK Technology and the manufacturer of ZINK Paper™ -- a revolutionary approach to full-color printing of information and images with unparalleled simplicity -- makes frequent use of COMSOL Multiphysics within product invention, development, and manufacturing. Dr. Bill Vetterling, Research Fellow and Director of the Image Science Lab at ZINK Imaging, attended the 2009 COMSOL Conference and tried out the new user interface. "The version 4.0 prerelease that was made available to attendees was a great way to try out new features,'' says Dr. Vetterling.
Simulation of a Rzeppa constant velocity joint using COMSOL Multiphysics Version 4. All model settings are controlled directly from the Model Builder and its context based Settings window. The Graphics window displays the displacements of the joint when the shaft reaches the maximum angle. Model courtesy of Metelli S.p.A. (Cologne, Italy)
''Version 4.0, by the way, is a masterpiece! It was a special treat this year to explore its fresh, new interface and insightful approach to the overall management of data,'' adds Dr. Vetterling. "In my experience, COMSOL Multiphysics is a product that makes significant advances year after year."
LiveLink family of products for integrating with CAD, MATLAB
By adopting COMSOL simulation, CAD software users can now accurately simulate how real-world physical effects shape the design of new products. To this end version 4.0 features the optional LiveLink family of products. Each LiveLink connects COMSOL Multiphysics directly with leading CAD programs so that all parameters specified in a CAD model can be interactively linked with simulation geometry. The current product line includes LiveLink™ for SolidWorks®, LiveLink for Inventor®, and LiveLink for Pro/ENGINEER®. In addition, LiveLink for MATLAB® is available for those who need to incorporate a COMSOL Multiphysics model into an extended technical computing and programming environment.
COMSOL Multiphysics on Windows HPC Server 2008
COMSOL Multiphysics version 4.0 now runs on Windows HPC Server 2008, creating a scalable and affordable high performance computing solution for simulation and virtual prototyping. Current users with a COMSOL Multiphysics version 4.0 floating network license will be able to deploy across as many Windows HPC Server 2008 nodes as they choose, at no additional COMSOL Multiphysics licensing cost.
''By creating applications that run on Windows HPC Server 2008, scientific and engineering software companies like COMSOL are helping speed discovery'', said Vince Mendillo, senior director, Microsoft High Performance Computing Group. '' Scientists, engineers and analysts need easy-to-use tools and accessible high performance computing power to create competitive advantage.''
COMSOL Multiphysics supports parallel processing through standard shared-memory multicore computers as well as distributed-memory clusters. Users can turn to clusters to solve a series of parameter steps for a model, one parameter per node, or they can solve a single large model using distributed memory. For maximum performance, the COMSOL cluster implementation can utilize shared-memory multicore processing on each node in combination with the MPI-based distributed memory model.
Multiphysics simulation for Windows HPC Server 2008. Solve a parameterized problem, with parameter steps distributed to different physical cluster nodes (left). Solve a single problem distributed to different physical nodes.(right)
COMSOL Multiphysics version 4.0 Highlights
COMSOL Desktop lets you organize your workflow and provides a clean overview of your simulation job
Quick model set-up in the Model Builder and its graphical programming utility throughout the modeling and simulation process
LiveLink family of products for using COMSOL with CAD:
LiveLink™ for Inventor®
LiveLink™ for Pro/ENGINEER®
LiveLink™ for SolidWorks®
LiveLink™ for MATLAB® to use multiphysics models in a programming environment
Extend your existing floating COMSOL Multiphysics license at no additional charge to additional nodes for clusters on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, Windows HPC Server 2008, and Linux
Geometry parameter sweeps with full associativity
New solvers
Modal solver for frequency response and time domain (for structural and acoustics simulations for example)
Direct solvers MUMPS and SPOOLES for cluster computing
Fully automated simulation configuration of solver settings, solver sequences, mesh settings, and result visualization
Fast graphics with new functionality:
Display of multiple plots simultaneously
Probes - measure and plot anything during the solution process
Data sets - create new solution data by operating on old data and use for postprocessing
New in Application Specific Modules
Structural and Acoustics:
Automated boundary conditions for structural-acoustics
Elastic materials defined using bulk modulus and shear modulus, Lamé constants, and pressure-wave and shear-wave speed in addition to Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio
Poroelasticity for anisotropic materials
Rigid connector boundary condition for rigid pins and kinematic constraints such as prescribed rigid rotations
Structural shell for large deformations
Heat Transfer:
Conjugate heat transfer (flow, fluid heat transfer, and solid heat transfer) for electronic cooling and heat sinks
Heat radiation in participating media
Heat transfer in porous media with multiple immobile solids
AC/DC, MEMS, and RF:
Electrical circuit elements (including resistors, capacitor, and inductors)
Fast-frequency sweep solver (Asymptotic Waveform Evaluation)
Transition boundary condition for thin metallic layers of arbitrary electrical thickness
Fluid Flow:
Improved turbulence models and low-Reynolds turbulence model
Mixture-averaged diffusion for concentrated species
Physics interface for fracture flow in structures with highly permeable thin shells and fractures
Availability
COMSOL Multiphysics version 4.0 is available for the Windows, Linux, and the Macintosh operating systems directly from COMSOL and from COMSOL's global network of distributors immediately. Full details about COMSOL Multiphysics and related products are available at www.comsol.com.
About COMSOL Multiphysics
COMSOL Multiphysics is a software environment for the modeling and simulation of any physics-based system. A particular strength is its ability to account for multiphysics phenomena. Optional modules add discipline-specific tools for acoustics, chemical engineering, earth science, electromagnetics, heat transfer, MEMS, and structural analysis.
This is COMSOL
COMSOL was founded in 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden, and has grown to include offices in the Benelux countries, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and in the US with offices in Burlington, MA, Los Angeles, CA, and Palo Alto, CA. Additional information about the company is available at www.comsol.com.
