Get a Sneak Peek of COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3a

COMSOL Inc. provided attendees at its Boston user conference a sneak preview of the upcoming 5.3a release of its COMSOL Multiphysics platform for physics-based modeling and simulation as well as its COMSOL Server platform for distributing, managing and running simulation apps. Conference attendees had the opportunity to test a beta version of the software to try out many of the new features.

COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3a's new hybrid BEM-FEM technology was used to model the sound pressure level surrounding this vented speaker. BEM-FEM modeling required 125k finite elements, 20k boundary elements and 250k degrees of freedom. Using finite elements alone would have required a half billion elements for the same accuracy, according to COMSOL. Image courtesy of COMSOL, Inc.

A key enhancement previewed was a new hybrid BEM-FEM (boundary element method-finite element method) technology that enables computation of acoustics and acoustic-structure interactions with less overhead compared with using finite elements alone. With this new capability, users can now analyze the full range of acoustic frequencies from the lowest bass notes to ultrasound efficiently, the company explains. Along with this capability, users can also leverage all the possible multiphysics couplings available with COMSOL.

“We are excited to now offer acoustics analysis based also on the boundary element method,” said Mads Jensen, technical Product Manager, Acoustics, at COMSOL in a press statement. “By combining boundary element, finite element and ray acoustics analysis in a multiphysics environment, users get unprecedented modeling power.”

Highlights of the 5.3a release cited by COMSOL include:

• impulse response for ray acoustics;
• magnetostatics-based hybrid BEM-FEM method;
• shape memory alloy (SMA) materials for structural analysis;
• new method for capacitively-coupled plasma (CCP) simulations;
• support for 3DConnexion SpaceMouse devices;
• turbulent-flow enabled inlets for CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations;
• 150 new materials and 1,300 new material properties in the Material Library product; and
• more than 60 substrate material properties for RF (radio frequency) and microwave analysis.

General availability of COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3a is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the company. For more details, visit COMSOL.

Learn about the COMSOL Acoustics Module.

Check out the entire COMSOL Multiphysics product suite.

Visit the COMSOL video gallery.

See what's happening in the COMSOL blog.

Learn more about the COMSOL Conference 2017.

See why DE's Editors selected version 5.3a of COMSOL Multiphysics and COMSOL Server as their Pick of the Week.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.