COMSOL Blog

When solving a thermal processing problem, such as the heating or cooling of a part, it is desirable to change the heating, or cooling, based upon the computed solution. That is, we may want to include a feedback loop into our model. In this article, we will set up a feedback loop using a component coupling to turn a heat load on or off depending upon the temperature of the part being heated.

Keeping the inside of a building at a comfortable temperature requires well-designed windows to keep heat out during the summer and heat in during the winter. Let’s take a look at how windows provide thermal insulation and how they carry heat (or not) between the inside of a building and the outdoors.

With shrinking electronic devices and ever-increasing power densities, efficient thermal management is at the heart of many R&D activities for electronics engineers. When developing complete systems containing multiple components, designs can become rather complex. An example of such a design would be a computer power supply unit (PSU), which can include not only electronics, but also multiple heat sinks, cooling fans, perforated grilles, and other large components — all within a small enclosure. In this blog post, we will explore […]

In this blog post we will explain the concept of conjugate heat transfer and show you some of its applications. Conjugate heat transfer corresponds with the combination of heat transfer in solids and heat transfer in fluids. In solids, conduction often dominates whereas in fluids, convection usually dominates. Conjugate heat transfer is observed in many situations. For example, heat sinks are optimized to combine heat transfer by conduction in the heat sink with the convection in the surrounding fluid.

You may not think of reheating food in the microwave as a drying process, but as we saw at the COMSOL Conference 2013 Boston, microwave technology — the same technology used in domestic microwave ovens — can be used for drying fruits and vegetables. One poster presented at the conference featured microwave drying of potatoes and how the heat and mass transfer that occurs can be modeled to predict the drying process.

Whenever we are solving a thermal problem where radiation is significant, we need to know the emissivities of all of our surfaces. Emissivity is a measure of the ability of a surface to emit energy by radiation, and it can depend strongly upon the wavelength of the radiation. This is very relevant for thermal problems where the temperature variation is large or when there is exposure to a high-temperature source of radiation such as the sun. In this post on […]

In my work at COMSOL, it’s always interesting to see how broad the field of heat transfer can be. Far from being limited to steel ingots and CPU fans, researchers often use COMSOL Multiphysics to study heat transfer in food manufacturing. One good example of this is the study of thermal and mechanical effects in the production of puffed rice, which was presented at the COMSOL Conference 2013 in Boston.

Joule heating is a fairly standard type of simulation for COMSOL users nowadays. It involves solving for electrical voltage and temperature fields simultaneously with highly temperature-dependent material properties. Controlling Joule heating is very important when designing and manufacturing electrical systems components. The electric protection group at manufacturing company Mersen France used to base their busbar and fuse designs on trial-and-error, but these days they turn to COMSOL Multiphysics.

The Leidenfrost effect, also known as film boiling, occurs when a liquid comes into contact with a solid that is at a temperature well above the liquid’s boiling point. Upon contact, a layer of vapor forms between the liquid-solid interface, creating a barrier between the two. There are many examples of this phenomenon, ranging from something you may have seen in your kitchen (water “dancing” around in a pan) to things you shouldn’t try at home (dipping your hand into […]

For 60 years, the technology manufacturer KOSTAL Group has been implementing various electrical systems in cars, making your driving experience more enjoyable. For instance, the Automotive Electrical Systems division of KOSTAL placed indicator switches near the steering wheel and created integrated-function push buttons. Over the years, their patents and designs have become more complex and revolutionary. Currently, they are working on optimizing the design of their roof modules for premium cars using mechatronic simulation.