Until the early 1900s, shock waves were an academic problem studied from a theoretical point of view only. Many great scientists, including Lord Rayleigh, worked on the field until the theory of inviscid shock waves was established in the 1920s. During World War II, this theory started to be applied, mostly to supersonic vehicles. To study shock waves, one important gas dynamic instrument is the shock tube, which is used to test supersonic and hypersonic flows and high-temperature gases.

There has always been a debate among engineers working with fluid flow about the suitability of finite element methods for CFD. Some engineers have a firm opinion about the superiority of finite volume methods compared to finite element methods. Is there a scientific support for this opinion? No, not in general. Different methods may be suitable for different problems. Let us see why.

Sparging, a mass transfer process between a gas and a liquid, is commonly encountered in industrial applications such as beverage carbonation and photobioreactors, or even at home for aeration in aquariums. In this blog post, we detail how to model a type of sparging, carbonation, using the COMSOL Multiphysics® software.

The Oldroyd-B numerical model defines flow in fluids that exhibit complex viscoelastic behavior under strain, such as clay, toothpaste, oil, and polymer solutions. In a benchmark model of an Oldroyd-B fluid, the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and add-on CFD Module are used to solve the numerical model, the results of which have been validated by published research.

Following up on a previous blog post about glacier flow modeling, we are going to delve a bit further into a crucial component of geophysics modeling in general: parameterizing numerical models using observations. Let’s see how we can quantify sensitivity and infer unknown parameters through indirect observations using the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and add-on Optimization Module.

Heart failure is a global health concern, affecting millions of people and keeping them from their everyday lives. But what if there was a device that could keep patients’ hearts pumping and even improve their quality of life? In his keynote presentation at the COMSOL Conference 2018 Boston, Freddy Hansen from Abbott Laboratories discussed a heart pump that could do just that. If you missed his talk, you can watch a recording of the video and read a summary below.

Imagine that you’re indoors during a thunderstorm, watching raindrops trickle down the window. Despite the storm, you remain dry and warm thanks to the building envelope protecting you from the outside environment. To design a well-functioning building envelope, engineers need to account for a variety of different factors. Simulation can help address this need.

When setting up fluid flow simulations, we typically focus on a single (possibly a few) components in a larger system, such as a pump or sedimentation tank in a water treatment plant. Naturally, this raises a question: At what distance can we apply boundary conditions without interfering with the process? In this blog post, we look at the effects of the proximity of inlet and outlet boundaries for interior and exterior flows of a homogeneous fluid with negligible compressibility.

From home HVAC systems to spacecraft ejectors, diffusers find use in all kinds of applications. For example, diffusers are often used in supersonic aircraft like ramjets to slow down fluid flow and increase static pressure. To design transonic diffusers for supersonic applications, engineers must account for factors like high-speed turbulent flow and shock waves. As this benchmark model illustrates, these complex phenomena can be accurately analyzed using the COMSOL® software.

Multijet tubular reactors are used to manufacture polymers such as polyester. The turbulent flow that occurs in this type of reactor can affect the manufacturing process, including the reaction kinetics, fiber quality, conversion, and yield. By developing a reactor model that fully takes into account both the fluid dynamics and chemical reactions, you can optimize a reactor design for efficient and reliable polymer production.