Address:
COMSOL, Inc.
1 New England Executive Park, Ste 350
Burlington, MA 01803 USA
Phone: +1 781-273-3322
Fax: +1 781-273-6603
Email: info@comsol.com
Editor Contact:
Bernt Nilsson, VP of Marketing
bernt@comsol.com
COMSOL® becomes SolidWorks® Solution Partner
thanks to tight integration of CAD and multiphysics
A bidirectional link between a CAD geometry in SolidWorks (left) and the corresponding simulation in COMSOL Multiphysics (right) allows users to quickly examine the effects of changes to the geometry, which they can steer from either environment.
BURLINGTON, MA (April 24, 2007)-SolidWorks Corporation, the leader in 3D CAD technology, and COMSOL, the worldwide leader in multiphysics simulation software, have strengthened their ties: SolidWorks has named COMSOL as one of its select Solution Partners. This program provides SolidWorks® 3D CAD users with access to integrated products and services that can further boost productivity. In this case, COMSOL Multiphysics® includes a feature in the CAD Import Module called the SolidWorks Live Connection, an easy-to-use bidirectional link that allows users to modify a geometry in the CAD environment and automatically transfer these changes to a linked multiphysics model based on that geometry.
Just one user who enjoys great productivity gains from this link is Mark Fowler, Senior Engineer at Digital Fusion in Huntsville, Alabama. That firm's Advanced Technology Division provides a variety of engineering services to a broad base of customers in the defense and aerospace industries. "Our designs are extremely sensitive to their thermal and structural operating environments," explains Fowler. "COMSOL provides a finite element analysis tool that allows us to study how our designs react to simulated conditions to which the hardware will be exposed. We use the SolidWorks Live Connection to interactively iterate our CAD designs based on the simulation results. This combination has allowed us to conduct studies in a short time, which helps increase our iteration rate for hardware designs."
The SolidWorks Live Connection in action
The SolidWorks Live Connection allows engineers to combine the power of CAD and multiphysics simulation in a seamless environment. Users first create a CAD model in SolidWorks and then initialize the connection from within COMSOL Multiphysics; in this step the connection translates the SolidWorks model into a COMSOL Multiphysics geometry. After assigning physics properties and boundary conditions, users conduct a series of studies on the model such as to study heat transfer, fluid dynamics, or electromagnetic properties. When they suspect that a change in geometry could improve a model's performance, they return to SolidWorks and make an appropriate modification. They then update the COMSOL Multiphysics model to reflect the changes in the CAD model with a simple menu selection. This method has the advantage that the physics and boundary settings are saved between geometry updates, which results in considerable time savings.
Taking advantage of the link's bidirectional nature, users can also initiate geometry changes from within COMSOL Multiphysics. To do so, they define variables, shared by both environments, that allow for parametric studies of the geometry. It is possible to automate this procedure yet retain the underlying physics even when the geometry changes.
About the COMSOL product line
COMSOL Multiphysics is the first software environment to provide scientists, engineers, and researchers with integrated, best-in-class technology for modeling, simulating, and discovering any system with both single or multiple physics phenomena. A broad range of discipline-specific modules extends the COMSOL environment for chemical engineering, earth science, electromagnetics, heat transfer, MEMS, and structural mechanics applications. COMSOL also offers the COMSOL Reaction Engineering Lab®, which allows users to model reacting systems. COMSOL products are available for the Windows, Linux, Solaris, and the Macintosh operating systems. Full details about COMSOL Multiphysics and related products are available at www.comsol.com.
About the COMSOL Group
COMSOL was founded in 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden, and has grown to include offices in the Benelux, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and a US presence with offices in Burlington, MA, Los Angeles, CA, and Palo Alto, CA. Additional information about the company is available at www.comsol.com.
About SolidWorks
SolidWorks Corporation, a Dassault Systèmes S.A. (Nasdaq: DASTY, Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) company, develops and markets software for design, analysis, and product data management. It is the leading supplier of 3D CAD technology, giving teams intuitive, high-performing software that helps them design better products. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit the company's Web site (www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-978-371-5000).
COMSOL, COMSOL Multiphysics, COMSOL Reaction Engineering Lab, and FEMLAB are registered trademarks of COMSOL AB. SolidWorks is a registered trademark of SolidWorks Corporation. Other products or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
