3 New Solvers Available in COMSOL 5.2a Release

As an integrated software environment for creating physics-based models and simulation apps, COMSOL Multiphysics and the COMSOL Server have become a go-to solution for simulation experts in the realm of electrical, mechanical, fluid flow and chemical applications.

COMSOL has just released version 5.2a of its Multiphysics and Server software. The release includes usability enhancements, new solvers and improvements to solve models more quickly with higher-quality visualizations.

A catalytic bed reactor with an injection needle is simulated and improved upon using COMSOL’s chemical reaction engineering module. (Image courtesy of COMSOL.)

The long list of updates includes everything from the ability to change the user interface of an app during operation to the ability to change the density of a fluid due to temperature or salinity.

However, one of the most critical updates to COMSOL 5.2a includes the addition of three new solvers: the smoothed aggregation algebraic multigrid, the domain decomposition and the nodal discontinuous Galerkin method.

The new smoothed aggregation algebraic multigrid solver has a wide range of useful applications. However, it is best suited for simulations in which field variables have strong couplings, such as linear elasticity for structural analysis.

Unlike the previous algebraic multigrid solver, coarser grid levels no longer require mesh generation. This will be useful for engineers working with large CAD assemblies, especially when it may be too time-consuming or altogether impossible to create such a mesh.

In addition to the new smoothed aggregation algebraic multigrid, an enhanced and optimized domain decomposition solver promises to handle large problems for strongly coupled multiphysics phenomena. Among other enhancements, the solver has a new optimized setup phase and enables clusters to communicate more efficiently.

Finally, the built-in discontinuous Galerkin method solver allows absorbing layers to be used as nonreflecting boundary conditions. Users can add additional subdomains with absorbing layer properties outside of the computational region of interest to create these conditions. The software can then stretch these layers using a coordinate transformation and damp the waves using filter techniques.

To find out more about COMSOL, COMSOL apps and the COMSOL Server, read: Multiphysics for the masses. COMSOL wants to democratize simulation in the design process– TV-report.