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Burlington, MA, January 14, 2002 — COMSOL is proud to present FEMLAB v2.2 with new versions of the Electromagnetics Module and the Chemical Engineering Module. The unique equation-based modeling in FEMLAB has taken another huge step - FEMLAB v2.2 now comes with new classes of higher-order elements, introduces the "weak form", which is at the heart of the finite element method, and includes extended multiphysics with model interaction between geometrical domains of different space dimensions: 0D, 1D, 2D, 3D plus time. Furthermore, the CAD import functionality has been upgraded to include 3D CAD import in the IGES format. The postprocessing engine in FEMLAB v2.2 has been substantially improved from what was already an excellent base. And, cross-sectional plots and time-dependent cross-sectional plots are easily done in the graphical user interface using an improved postprocessing drawing tool. In this new version, a new solver for large 3D models makes manual tuning of solver parameters unnecessary. Moreover, the algebraic multigrid preconditioner (AMG) implements state-of-the-art numerics for higher performance and less memory usage.

FEMLAB v2.2 also provides a new, fully integrated Electromagnetics Module, with many new models, in addition to new features and unique functionalities. This new release also features an upgrade of the Chemical Engineering Module, which also includes new models and enhanced postprocessing capabilities. FEMLAB v2.2 is able to couple descriptions in 0D (points where a phenomenon might vary only in time), 1D, 2D and 3D in one single model. It can simultaneously treat processes in separate geometries and coordinate systems and combine them through algebraic and differential conditions to create global models.

In many engineering applications, the engineer needs to connect several components into one global model. In these cases, different components have to be described with varying levels of accuracy. Some components may be accurately described by models in 2D, while other components have to be described by complex 3D geometries. For instance, the current distribution in a conductor does not vary along its length and, therefore, only a 2D cross-section needs to be modeled. This conductor may then be connected to a switch, which needs to be described in 3D. Hence, the ability to couple models in different dimensions using varying degrees of accuracy is crucial not only for an efficient, accurate simulation of a system, but also for an effective simulation of the impact that the individual components have on larger systems.

"The possibility of combining arbitrary systems of partial differential equations in 1D, 2D and 3D with ordinary differential equations and algebraic equations is unparalleled in commercial FEA packages" - says Björn Engquist, Numerical Science Professor at Princeton University and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

In engineering processes, large forces and fluxes can be concentrated at very small locations on the device being designed or optimized. One example can be the propagation of cracks due to a high concentration of stresses where the crack is initialized. The different concentration of fluxes and stresses may lead to a very large difference in the size of these entities in the geometry. In order to properly describe these steep changes along a piece of equipment, highly accurate elements have to be used.

The most current finite element method implemented in FEMLAB v2.2 includes a new element library and access to methods that result in extremely high accuracy in the calculations of fluxes, forces and other quantities. Although default settings ensure that proper elements are used for the pre-defined physics that are included in the package, FEMLAB v2.2 also allows users to quickly and freely define new elements for specific problems.

FEMLAB v2.2 provides another new feature for enhanced precision and modeling freedom - the weak formulation. Traditionally difficult problems involving flux on boundaries and surfaces of 2D and 3D geometrical objects can now be solved quickly and accurately. In the field of fluid dynamics, this new method can be used to accurately compute fluxes occurring in heat flow or fluid flow problems. In these cases, FEMLAB v2.2 is able to calculate the shear stresses that liquids impose on solid walls, with an extremely high accuracy. This feature can be easily combined with new ready-to-use elements adapted for fluid flow, structural mechanics and electromagnetics. This new modeling approach is exemplified in a model of the Marangoni effect, which may be found in the new Model Library. The model shows how a function of a one-dimensional temperature gradient at an interface (e.g. between a liquid and air) gives rise to convection in a 2D system.

The new Electromagnetics Module includes new formulations and elements that are tailor-made for modeling electromagnetic processes in AC & DC power systems, as well as wave propagation in microwave engineering and photonics.

- Inhomogeneous waveguides, anisotropic materials, and lossy media for wave and field propagation

The Electromagnetics Module includes a large number of modeling features for high frequency wave propagation problems. It treats modeling of inhomogeneous waveguides, anisotropic materials, and lossy media. The module easily handles complex variables and complex coefficients as input data for modeling in the frequency domain. These analyses can be carried out in 1D, 2D and 3D. Multiphysics modeling using FEMLAB v2.2 makes modeling the effect of heat generation due to material losses very convenient. Any kind of absorbing boundary condition or absorbing boundary layer can be used. This is crucial for accurate S-parameter studies with varying waveguide terminations.

- AC/DC and power electromagnetics

The Electromagnetics Module includes new 3D applications for solving low frequency and direct current electromagnetics problems. Capacitances and inductances are computed using the extensive postprocessing features available in the graphical user interface. The CAD tools, as well as the CAD-file import feature, support arbitrary geometric shapes of solenoids, inductors and capacitors in 2D or 3D.

- Model Library

The Electromagnetics Module contains a new model library, which includes models from radio and microwave engineering, power system design, and photonics areas. The model library features models, like waveguide and antennas. It also contains models of optical fibers, photonics crystal waveguides, and other photonic devices. In the field of AC/DC electromagnetics, models of MEMS devices like micro coils and capacitors are described in full detail in 3D. The model library also contains axially symmetric models of solenoids as well as in-plane models of electromachinery devices.

The new Chemical Engineering Module has been improved to adapt to the new features in FEMLAB v2.2. This module contains new machinery for problem definition and postprocessing, which is exemplified in the Model Library.

- Anisotropic materials and new formulations

The new Chemical Engineering Module includes modeling of transport in anisotropic materials, which can be used, among other things, to study porous media. The weak formulation makes it a simple task to specify time-dependent processes only defined at a boundary. Examples of such processes include the description of adsorption isotherms on catalyst surfaces or mass balances of surface-active species on phase boundaries.

- Postprocessing

The postprocessing capabilities in the Chemical Engineering Module, although already highly flexible, have been substantially improved. The new version provides ready-to-use applications to directly plot reaction rate expressions and fluxes of energy and mass in both the domain and the boundaries. The improved cross-sectional plot capabilities in FEMLAB v2.2 are fully incorporated in the Chemical Engineering Module and the plotting of reaction rates, fluxes, temperatures, and concentrations are easily projected on lines and 2D cross-sections.

- Higher accuracy with less computing in the new Model Library

The Chemical Engineering module has been upgraded to account for the new element library. In processes with steep changes in composition or temperature, the new elements allow for higher accuracy with lesser number of nodes. This is exemplified in the Model Library in which specific examples show how the new elements increase the accuracy of the model inspite of a decrease in the computing time by a factor of 1/3.

The new multi-geometry capabilities in FEMLAB v2.2 are also incorporated in the Chemical Engineering Module. To exemplify this new modeling feature, the model library includes a new model of a packed bed reactor. In this example, the transport between the particles in the packed bed is coupled to the transport inside each individual particle. In this way, macro and micro descriptions of the packed bed can be fully coupled in one global model.

• Higher order elements: The unique, extremely flexible, equation-based modeling in FEMLAB has taken another step. FEMLAB v2.2 can now solve fluid flow problems with reduced execution time and significantly increased accuracy. Entities dependent on derivatives, such as fluxes, electromagnetic fields, and stresses, can now be computed accurately with reasonable computer resources. The new classes of higher order elements give extreme flexibility in the modeling process of physics phenomena.
• The weak form: As the first simulation environment in the history of numerical computing, FEMLAB v2.2 introduces a unique high-level modeling language that gives complete freedom in problem definition by introducing the weak form. The weak form is at the heart of the finite element model. However, thus far, no one has been able to implement it in a commercial product before, until now. This functionality makes it possible to compute fluxes with optimal accuracy, to compute reaction forces in structural mechanics as part of a complex multiphysics problem, and to compute surface changes and surface currents in electromagnetics with optimal accuracy.
• Extended multiphysics for modeling simultaneous simulations of several physics models. You can couple models by integrating a solution on one domain and using it as a material parameter in another. This enables true engineering solutions to complex problems. Strongly nonlinear couplings are optimally controlled, without need for user interaction. Now, FEMLAB v2.2 can model systems of several interacting physics models or components that were previously beyond reach for simulation.
• New Model Library: The new features in FEMLAB v2.2 are depicted in new, illustrative examples in the Model Library. Models of MEMS devices, like micro coils, photonics crystal waveguides, monolithic reactors and much more are described in fine detail. These examples illustrate the implementation of the new features including the new element library, the weak formulation, and multiphysics in multi-dimensions.
• 3D-CAD import with geometry repair for multiphysics modeling on industrial-quality solid models. FEMLAB v2.2 supports the widest spread format, IGES, for CAD import in addition to 2D import in DXF.
• Cross-section visualization: You can visualize postprocessing expressions for function values, derivatives and integrals. These entities can also be projected on cross-sections by defining slicing planes or lines in the graphical user interface. You can also visualize time-evolution cross sections, for simultaneously displaying the dynamic behavior on the cross-section.
• Algebraic multigrid preconditioner: Automatic tuning of solver parameters for large 3D models. The algebraic multigrid preconditioner implements state-of-the-art numerics for higher performance and less memory usage.

FEMLAB v2.2 runs under Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP/NT4.0, Macintosh System 7.1 or later. Versions are available for Solaris, Linux, AIX, HP-UX and IRIX. FEMLAB also requires that MATLAB® 5.3 or 6.x be installed (version 5.2.1 for the Macintosh). Recommended hardware configuration: 128M bytes of RAM for modeling in 2-D, 256M bytes of RAM for modeling in 3-D, and 16-bit color graphics.

COMSOL Inc is located at

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Tel: +1-781-273 3322
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Web site: www.comsol.com

The COMSOL group is a fast growing high tech engineering software company with a proven track record and a vision as a future leader of the industry. The company was founded in July 1986 in Stockholm Sweden. COMSOL has grown to include offices in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, France and USA, in addition to distributors all around the world.

Specifically COMSOL has focused on the engineering, applied mathematics and physics fields. The flagship product, FEMLAB®, was developed in-house by COMSOL.

FEMLAB is a registered trademark of COMSOL AB. MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks Inc.