Multiphysics
Encyclopedia
Multiphysics treats simulation
s that involve multiple physical models or multiple simultaneous physical phenomena. For example, combining chemical kinetics
and fluid mechanics
or combining finite elements with molecular dynamics
. Multiphysics typically involves solving coupled systems of partial differential equation
s.
Almost any physical simulation involves coupled systems, like E and B (electric and magnetic) fields for electromagnetism or pressure and velocity for sound or the real and the imaginary part of the quantum mechanical wave function. Another case is the mean field approximation for the electronic structure of atoms, where the electric field and the electron wave functions are coupled.
, ADINA
, ANSYS Multiphysics, Code Aster
, CFD-ACE+
, CFD-FASTRAN
, COMSOL Multiphysics
, FlexPDE
, LS-DYNA
, NEi Nastran
, CheFEM, Elmer
and OOFELIE are some examples of commercially available software packages for simulating multiphysics models. These software packages mainly rely on the Finite Element Method
or similar commonplace numerical methods for simulating coupled physics: thermal stress, electromechanical interaction, fluid structure interaction (FSI), fluid flow with heat transport and chemical reactions, electromagnetic fluids (magnetohydrodynamics or plasma), electromagnetically induced heating. In many cases, to get accurate results, it is important to include mutual dependencies where the material properties significant for one field (such as the electric field) vary with the value of another field (such as temperature) and vice versa.
s has different mathematical behavior, for example when compressible fluid flow is coupled with structural analysis or heat transfer
. To perform an optimal simulation in those cases, a different discretization procedure must be applied to each subset. For example, the compressible flow
is discretized with a finite volume method and the conjugate heat transfer with a finite element analysis.
Simulation
Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
s that involve multiple physical models or multiple simultaneous physical phenomena. For example, combining chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics, also known as reaction kinetics, is the study of rates of chemical processes. Chemical kinetics includes investigations of how different experimental conditions can influence the speed of a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's mechanism and transition...
and fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest; fluid kinematics, the study of fluids in motion; and fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion...
or combining finite elements with molecular dynamics
Molecular dynamics
Molecular dynamics is a computer simulation of physical movements of atoms and molecules. The atoms and molecules are allowed to interact for a period of time, giving a view of the motion of the atoms...
. Multiphysics typically involves solving coupled systems of partial differential equation
Partial differential equation
In mathematics, partial differential equations are a type of differential equation, i.e., a relation involving an unknown function of several independent variables and their partial derivatives with respect to those variables...
s.
Almost any physical simulation involves coupled systems, like E and B (electric and magnetic) fields for electromagnetism or pressure and velocity for sound or the real and the imaginary part of the quantum mechanical wave function. Another case is the mean field approximation for the electronic structure of atoms, where the electric field and the electron wave functions are coupled.
Single Discretization Method
AbaqusAbaqus
Abaqus FEA is a suite of software applications for finite element analysis and computer-aided engineering, originally released in 1978...
, ADINA
ADINA
ADINA is a commercial finite element software which is developed and distributed worldwide by ADINA R&D, Inc. The company was founded in 1986 by Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Bathe and associates. ADINA is widely used in industry and academia for linear and nonlinear finite element analysis of solids and...
, ANSYS Multiphysics, Code Aster
Code Aster
Code_Aster is an Open Source software package for Civil and Structural Engineering finite element analysis and numeric simulation in structural mechanics originally developed as an in-house application by the French company EDF...
, CFD-ACE+
CFD-ACE+
is a general computational fluid dynamics and multiphysics solver for a broad range of physics disciplines.The partial differential equations involved can be solved inmultidimensional , and in steady or transient form....
, CFD-FASTRAN
CFD-FASTRAN
is a leading commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics software for aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic applications. It is specifically designed to support the aerospace industry. It employs multiple moving body capability for simulating most complex aerospace problems including missile launch,...
, COMSOL Multiphysics
COMSOL Multiphysics
COMSOL Multiphysics is a finite element analysis, solver and Simulation software / FEA Software package for various physics and engineering applications, especially coupled phenomena, or multiphysics. COMSOL Multiphysics also offers an extensive interface to MATLAB and its toolboxes for a large...
, FlexPDE
Flexpde
FlexPDE is a general-purpose software for obtaining numerical solutions to partial differential equations in 2 or 3 dimensions. It is based on the Finite Element Method....
, LS-DYNA
LS-DYNA
LS-DYNA is an advanced general-purpose multiphysics simulation software package developed by the Livermore Software Technology Corporation...
, NEi Nastran
NEi Nastran
NEi Nastran is an engineering analysis and simulation software product of NEi Software Based on NASA's Structural Analysis program, the software is a finite element analysis solver used to generate solutions for linear and nonlinear stress, dynamics, and heat transfer characteristics of...
, CheFEM, Elmer
Elmer FEM solver
Elmer is an open source computational tool for multi-physics problems. It has been developed by CSC in collaboration with Finnish universities, research laboratories and industry....
and OOFELIE are some examples of commercially available software packages for simulating multiphysics models. These software packages mainly rely on the Finite Element Method
Finite element method
The finite element method is a numerical technique for finding approximate solutions of partial differential equations as well as integral equations...
or similar commonplace numerical methods for simulating coupled physics: thermal stress, electromechanical interaction, fluid structure interaction (FSI), fluid flow with heat transport and chemical reactions, electromagnetic fluids (magnetohydrodynamics or plasma), electromagnetically induced heating. In many cases, to get accurate results, it is important to include mutual dependencies where the material properties significant for one field (such as the electric field) vary with the value of another field (such as temperature) and vice versa.
Multiple Discretization Methods
There are cases where each subset of partial differential equationPartial differential equation
In mathematics, partial differential equations are a type of differential equation, i.e., a relation involving an unknown function of several independent variables and their partial derivatives with respect to those variables...
s has different mathematical behavior, for example when compressible fluid flow is coupled with structural analysis or heat transfer
Heat transfer
Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the exchange of thermal energy from one physical system to another. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as heat conduction, convection, thermal radiation, and phase-change transfer...
. To perform an optimal simulation in those cases, a different discretization procedure must be applied to each subset. For example, the compressible flow
Compressible flow
Compressible flow is the area of fluid mechanics that deals with fluids in which the fluid density varies significantly in response to a change in pressure. Compressibility effects are typically considered significant if the Mach number of the flow exceeds 0.3, or if the fluid undergoes very large...
is discretized with a finite volume method and the conjugate heat transfer with a finite element analysis.
External links
- Multiphysics Methods Group - Idaho National Laboratory
- SALOME platform - SALOME : open-source platform for multi-physics and simulation
- The OpenPALM coupler : an open-source high performances dynamic parallel coupler by CERFACS
- ELMER - ELMER : Open Source Finite Element Software for Multiphysical Problems has an Graphic interface ElmerGUI