Discussion Forum

Posted: 1 decade ago Jun 29, 2012, 3:41 p.m. EDT

Hi they provide a bit of all I would say, but I have no idea how much in exact quantities. They provide us a tool to analyse physics equations, so anything related to the functioning of the tool they will certain study, but they cannot build up our models, else you pay them as anybody else on the market for FEM consultancy. We, as users are the one having the responsability for your models, so it's up to us to understand what we are doing and to validate our models in detail, because even if COMSOL is calculating wrong, it's us as engineers or scientist that remain responsible for our work. We can at best tell our tool providers that we change the tool if someting is wrong, but we cannot sue them for wrong results. This is so for ANY software, be it FEM, analytical tools, other numerical tools, even the standard "office" (and there were a few nasty bugs for years in Excel, probably correced by now ...) But COMSOL do have some rather high quality courses, that I find very usefull, just a pitty that my boss cannot send me on a few per year on a regular basis, but the ones I mange to get the first two years were really good and I learned quickly quite a lot. There were no "Forum" when I started with COMSOL, and I was all alone and had to get quickly results to justify the change and new purchase of this tool, I remember I felt quite frustrated in the beginning, but within a few months I manage to convince my colleagues that this is a really good tool, with a net increase in productivity and ease to set-up and to model even complex models. For the rest of my training I do it here on the Forum, by studying the examples and questions that comes up, and getting sometimes help and ideas from others via their coments and sugestions -- Good luck Ivar

Posted: 1 decade ago Jun 29, 2012, 5:12 p.m. EDT

I never heard that COMSOL Support was limited to 2 hours per year. As Ivar mentioned however Support is not there to help you create a model or analyze results. When I suspect that there is a bug I send them a model and get a quick turnaround. I do my part before sending the model by stripping it of any other complexities so they can focus on the main issue. Nagi Elabbasi Veryst Engineering

Posted: 1 decade ago Jun 29, 2012, 7:54 p.m. EDT

Thank you both for your replies and tips. I understand this point of view. My question was motivated by my bosses previous experience with a different CFD program's support team. Comsol has been very helpful in giving me advice to advance my simulations.

Posted: 1 decade ago Jun 30, 2012, 3:47 a.m. EDT

Hi then yu can tell your boss, from us other usres, that the best support he can get from COMSOL is to send you to the courses, on a regular basis, and if possible ensure your are at least two persons to use COMSOL so you have sombody to discuss issues with, internally. And important as Nagi stated, when a problem occurs, try to simplify the model at most to identify "the" issue, then submit it, the same for here on the FORUM, do not publish anything "confidential" even on the "private side", it might end up by your competitor ;) But do use the Forum, we all gain by that -- Good luck Ivar

Posted: 1 decade ago Jun 30, 2012, 6:16 p.m. EDT

[QUOTE] Comsol only offers 2 hours per year of support to paying customers? Comsol support does not run models that have been submitted for evaluation? [/QUOTE] I can verify that neither of these statements are true. I can also verify that COMSOL support is much better, by orders of magnitude, than other similar large-code vendors. That said, there are some things that customers should come to expect and can do to increase the likelihood of fixing a problem you may have. This is based on my own personal experience. 1. Try to get as knowledgeable as you can about the subject area. Really try hard to solve the problem yourself. This is the best way to learn how to use any code. You cannot expect the gui to solve all problems for you. You may even need to look up some of the good technical references of some of the model library problems for example. 2. Get some help from other comsol users if you can find one locally. There is nothing better than a team of comsol users ! 3. If you are at wits end, then try to describe the problem precisely...on paper. Sometimes this process in itself fixes a problem. 4. Formulate the simplest problem you can that mimics your real problem to duplicate the issue. Imagine the tech support person at the other end to first try to go through a very complex and detailed model to eliminate all other complications to pinpoint your particular problem. This is very time consuming on their part and not really necessary. 5. Submit the written problem statement by e-mail, simple as possible, and precise as possible for tech support. 6. Now be willing to wait 1-3 days for a first response. 7. Be prepared for a sudden response back once you do start to get help. Problems are usually resolved in a day if you will follow these guidelines. I also keep a library / log of all my tech support questions and responses under my e-mail account, so I can go back if it crops up again, or I forget something. This has been very valuable to me to do this over the years. Tech support is also a very good way to really get into details and learn more precisely how the code works and why it is such a superior product.

Posted: 1 decade ago Jul 1, 2012, 4:47 a.m. EDT

Hi James, Thanks for you "procedure", I see we follow the same track, and I'm also very pleased with the response from COMSOL -- Good luck Ivar

Posted: 1 decade ago Jul 1, 2012, 10:43 p.m. EDT

Thank you. I will follow this procedure to my best ability. I apologize for submitting rash questions. Even so, these have been great comments and I appreciate your help. Honestly, this is mostly what I in-visioned the procedure to be and it is now confirmed.