Use of COMSOL Multiphysics Software in Undergraduate Heat Transfer Education
Krishan Kumar Bhatia,
Rowan University
A semester project involving the design and optimization of an air cooled, V-twin motorcycle engine block was assigned in a junior level undergraduate heat transfer course.
Student teams each designed their own engine block to meet certain cooling requirements, used CAD software to model the block, imported these complex geometries into COMSOL, analyzed them for heat transfer effectiveness, and optimized their original designs.
Students mostly unfamiliar with finite element modeling (FEM), but well versed in the physics and PDEs governing heat transfer, were able to perform accurate simulations with COMSOL’s focus on equation based modeling. Furthermore, unlike several “plug-and-chug” FEM software packages, the multiphysics nature of COMSOL permitted additional modeling of combined phenomenon (i.e. heat transfer and thermal stress analysis within the engine block).
A student self-assessment survey found a sharp increase in reported PDE comfort level and understanding after using COMSOL software.