Description

A working simulation is not a confirmation that your fabricated prototype will work! The numbers you get from a simulation are not necessarily close to those measured! A simulation only approximates the real behavior and neglects many real phenomena! If the previous statements are true (and they are), why bother to take this course? Well, the above statements are true for complex multiphysics problems. For relatively simple problems (usually single physics or for structural and thermal problems), the results obtained from the model and the measurements usually agree well with each other. However, for computationally-intense problems that are multiphysics in nature, results can vary significantly. Yet, the reason for creating the model is to obtain an idea about the general behavior of the system, get a 'feel' of what happens when different parameters change, observe how severely different inputs affect the output, help in optimizing, or rule out materials, geometries, etc., that most probably will not work. With this in mind, we can see that simulation plays an important role in saving time (which means you graduate faster!) and in saving money. This tutorial will give you a jump start on COMSOL and help you in research. Irrespective of what your area of research is, be certain that COMSOL can be of value. We will learn how to create geometries, create meshes and refine them, impose boundary conditions, apply a few tricks to help get more accurate results, and generate appealing figures that will make your next publication prettier (which will help the reviewer make a decision in your favor!).