COMSOL
Canvas Category Software : Engineering : Simulation
At COMSOL, we develop mathematical modeling software that drives new breakthroughs in physics and engineering — and we love what we do. Our flagship product, COMSOL Multiphysics®, is used in all fields of engineering, manufacturing, and scientific research for modeling multiphysics systems. Our customers use the software to understand, predict, innovate, and optimize product designs and processes. We also help our users take simulation one large step further, giving them the tools to create their own simulation apps, based on their models, and then distribute them to collaborators within or outside of the simulation sphere.
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Optimizing a Chemical Vapor Deposition Process for a High-Performance Tungsten Material
One of the key factors of the CVD process for Wf/W production is the tungsten deposition rate, which depends on the temperature and partial pressures involved. The tungsten deposition rate is hard to predict because it involves a lot of different parameters, including the surface temperature and partial pressure at the reaction sites, which depend on the reactor geometry, heater temperature, gas flow rates, and gas composition.
Leonard Raumann, Material Engineer at FZJ, designed an experimental single-fiber setup with very well-known boundary conditions. With the help of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and a parameter study, he found the rate equations. He then used the equations to model the Wf/W production with multiple fibers. For this, Raumann applied COMSOL Multiphysics® again, followed by a parameter optimization. The resulting parameters were also applied in reality with success.
Scaling up the production process for tungsten-fiber-reinforced tungsten means new possibilities for fusion power. Before this research, producing one layer of the tungsten material took around five hours, but by optimizing the CVD process parameters, it can take just 30 minutes to produce one layer of Wf/W — which is 10 times faster. By optimizing production processes for high-performance materials for fusion reactors, we can ensure that fusion power is both possible and cost efficient.
Powering Offshore Wind Farms With Numerical Modeling of Subsea Cables
The future of offshore wind lies in wind farms that float on ballasts and moorings, with the cables laid directly on the seafloor. Floating wind farms are a great solution when wind farms situated just off the coast grow crowded. They can also take advantage of the bigger and more powerful winds that occur further out to sea. Floating wind farms are expected to grow more popular over the next decade. This is an especially attractive option for areas like the Pacific Coast of the United States and the Mediterranean, where the shores are deeper, as opposed to the shallow waters of the Atlantic Coast of the U.S., U.K., and Norway. One important requirement of floating OFW farms is the installation of dynamic, high-capacity submarine cables that are able to effectively harness and deliver the generated electricity to our shores.
Before fixing or installing a submarine cable, which can cost billions of dollars, cable designers have to ensure that designs will perform as intended in undersea conditions. Today, this is typically done with the help of computational electromagnetics modeling. To validate cable simulation results, international standards are used, but these standards have not been able to keep up with recent advancements in computational power and the simulation software’s growing capabilities. Hellenic Cables, including its subsidiary FULGOR, use the finite element method (FEM) to analyze their cable designs and compare them to experimental measurements, often getting better results than what the international standards can offer.
Fine-Tuning the Factory: Simulation App Helps Optimize Additive Manufacturing Facility
“The model helps predict how heat and humidity inside a powder bed fusion factory may affect product quality and worker safety,” says Adam Holloway, a technology manager within the MTC’s modeling team. “When combined with data feeds from our facility, the app helps us integrate predictive modeling into day-to-day decision-making.” The MTC project demonstrates the benefits of placing simulation directly into the hands of today’s industrial workforce and shows how simulation could help shape the future of manufacturing.
The team made their model more accessible by building a simulation app of it with the Application Builder in COMSOL Multiphysics. “We’re trying to present the findings of some very complex calculations in a simple-to-understand way,” Holloway explains. “By creating an app from our model, we can empower staff to run predictive simulations on laptops during their daily shifts.”