![]() The wizard starts with a Comsol model, and assembles lists of elements from it that are suitable for use as inputs and outputs, modeling operations, and graphics. To implement the model as an app most quickly, I used a tool called the application wizard. ![]() The idealized print head used by the author in testing Comsol's application builder. Voltage may be applied to selected electrodes of the print head to heat corresponding portions of a resistive film, and the purpose of the model is to discover the final temperature distribution in the film.įigure 1. It is possible to simply use one of the models from the example library that comes with the product, but instead I chose to use a simple three-dimensional model of the current flow and heating of a multi-pixel thick-film thermal print head such as might be used in a FAX machine and depicted in figure 1. I began with a functioning Comsol Multiphysics model that I wanted to turn into an app. I do not need to speculate about the complexity of creating an app, as it is easy enough to give it a try. In brief, the application builder is a new line of communication between the professional modeling expertise of the model builder, and the science and engineering expertise of model users. Commercial users may offer models of their product’s performance, to be used in the place of data sheets or may produce licensable models as products in their own right. Equally, models may be constructed for use in lectures or demonstrations, provided that they run relatively quickly. With the application builder, modeling results may be presented in the form of live, real-time examples rather than static summaries in charts and graphs. Certainly, the apps will be attractive for users who shy away from models due to uneasiness or unfamiliarity with the full modeling environment of Comsol Multiphysics. Two questions present themselves: How will modelers use this new capability? How difficult is it to use? I can only speculate about the first question. With that in mind, the application server should be a very attractive method of providing colleagues or clients with a model that they may use independently without competing for the resources of the more expensive model-building tools. The application builder itself is now an integral part of the Comsol Multiphysics modeling software, while the application server is offered separately at a small fraction of the cost of a corresponding Comsol Multiphysics floating network license with the same add-on modules (about 10% on a per-concurrent-user basis). In the latter case, the app may be run as a stand-alone application, or as a web resource within a conventional browser. But, importantly, it may also be lifted entirely from that feature-rich environment with the help of the Comsol application server. It may be launched from within the Comsol Multiphysics program. The app may have a simple mouse-driven interface constructed with an assortment of buttons, lists, menus, graphics, and text to make its operation straightforward. The application builder allows the modeler to sweep away the detail-oriented tools that were used to produce a model and to fashion a more approachable application-an app-that is intuitive and easy to use. ![]() In its latest V5.0 release, Comsol Multiphysics has also introduced something new to the modeling enterprise: the application builder, and its counterpart, the application server. It is a rare user that does not take advantage of one or more of these modules, though in principle the core package would be sufficient to carry out individual field capabilities with the application of sufficient personal ingenuity and labor. ![]() The software is organized into a basic multiphysics core package and more than 25 add-on modules addressing the specific couplings, boundary conditions, and equations useful in individual scientific and engineering disciplines. With its broad internal array of intuitive tools for drawing, meshing, material specification, finite-element analysis, post-processing, and graphical display, it has become one of the favorites of the multiphysics community. One of the more ambitious of these tools is Comsol Multiphysics. However, a select few are classified as "multiphysics solvers." Such programs attempt to bridge the gaps between the specialties by simplifying the process of coupling differential equations to produce cross-disciplinary models. Most of those programs are specialized for a specific scientific field, such as fluid dynamics, mechanics, thermal analysis, or RF design. A wide variety of programs can be found in diverse working environments, from “do-it-yourself” function libraries to extensive “leave-the-driving-to-us” graphical user interfaces. Many fields of science and engineering use numerical simulation to solve coupled partial differential equations, so there is no shortage of software to address that need.
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