Discussion Closed This discussion was created more than 6 months ago and has been closed. To start a new discussion with a link back to this one, click here.

Angular momentum

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Hi all,

I'd like to determine the angular momentum of a geometry in a time dependent study in COMSOL. The rotational velocity around the center of mass of the system would also be very interesting, but I haven't found a way to do that either. Has anyone else run into this? Because it feels like this should be really easy to do.


2 Replies Last Post 2023/09/27 16:42 GMT-4
Robert Koslover Certified Consultant

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 7 months ago 2023/09/26 21:23 GMT-4
Updated: 7 months ago 2023/09/26 21:40 GMT-4

Ok, I'm a complete novice with the Structural mechanics module, but I agree it should be easy! Even if there isn't any angular momentum post-processing operation being made available to you somewhere (and I wouldn't be surprised if there is), you should still be able to define your own domain probe of type integral to compute the integral over the cross product of a vector from the origin and the velocity of a mass element, or: mass_density_rho times vector_r cross vector_v dVol. I just checked, and I found that components of linear velocity (if I read it correctly) in terms of (x,y,z) should be available to you in post-processing in this module as (solid.u_tX, solid.u_tY, and solid.u_tZ), and also there's the (scalar) mass density: solid.rho . Starting from those, you should be able to construct an appropriate cross product vector in terms of its three components and compute the approprate integrals (as domain probes, I suggest) of them yourself. Computing the angular velocity vector, of course, is even easier. For the physics formulas, if you don't already know them by heart, see any classical mechanics textbook, or simply scroll down the page at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_momentum . Now, if you haven't used probes in Comsol Multiphysics before, you might want to read about them in the Help system and review some of the provided example applications. I hope that helps. Good luck.

-------------------
Scientific Applications & Research Associates (SARA) Inc.
www.comsol.com/partners-consultants/certified-consultants/sara
Ok, I'm a complete novice with the Structural mechanics module, but I agree it should be easy! Even if there isn't any angular momentum post-processing operation being made available to you somewhere (and I wouldn't be surprised if there is), you should still be able to define your own *domain probe* of type *integral* to compute the integral over the cross product of a vector from the origin and the velocity of a mass element, or: mass_density_rho times vector_r cross vector_v dVol. I just checked, and I found that components of linear velocity (if I read it correctly) in terms of (x,y,z) should be available to you in post-processing in this module as (solid.u_tX, solid.u_tY, and solid.u_tZ), and also there's the (scalar) mass density: solid.rho . Starting from those, you should be able to construct an appropriate cross product vector in terms of its three components and compute the approprate integrals (as domain probes, I suggest) of them yourself. Computing the angular velocity vector, of course, is even easier. For the physics formulas, if you don't already know them by heart, see any classical mechanics textbook, or simply scroll down the page at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_momentum . Now, if you haven't used probes in Comsol Multiphysics before, you might want to read about them in the Help system and review some of the provided example applications. I hope that helps. Good luck.

Please login with a confirmed email address before reporting spam

Posted: 7 months ago 2023/09/27 16:42 GMT-4

Thanks, I'll definitely get acquainted with the post processing options and the probes and try it again!

Thanks, I'll definitely get acquainted with the post processing options and the probes and try it again!

Note that while COMSOL employees may participate in the discussion forum, COMSOL® software users who are on-subscription should submit their questions via the Support Center for a more comprehensive response from the Technical Support team.