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COMSOL, Inc.
1 New England Executive Park, Ste 350
Burlington, MA 01803 USA
Phone: +1 781-273-3322
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Editor Contact:
Bernt Nilsson, VP of Marketing

Reader Contact:
Bjorn Sjodin, VP of Applications

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Acoustics Module simulates sounds whether underwater or in the air

BURLINGTON, MA (August 28, 2006)-Scientists and engineers interested in creating and measuring sound or acoustic waves can benefit from new simulation capabilities for the COMSOL product line-now available in the Acoustics Module. It is ideal for examining linear mechanical wave phenomena in structures and fluids. It is designed specifically for those who work with devices that generate, measure, and use acoustic waves. Users can easily model wave propagation in solids and stationary fluids as well as study aeroacoustics in moving fields.

Applications from point sources to far-field processing

Just a few application areas include the audio industry such as for loudspeaker design, whether for standalone speakers or those embedded into electronic appliances like cell phones; for underwater object detection and characterization; and far-field processing to predict radiation patterns and signal strength.

The module provides a variety of application modes, which offer tailored user interfaces loaded with predefined settings important for acoustics applications. Users create or import a geometry, fine-tune the physics settings, and solve the problem. A material library with all the physical properties of air and water, as well as a large selection of metallic and other solid materials, facilitates speedy model setup.

One user of COMSOL software who is especially pleased to see the convenience he will be gaining through the Acoustics Module is Dr. Mario Zampolli, a researcher at the NATO Undersea Research Centre in La Spezia, Italy. As he explains, "Our studies don´t fall into conventional areas, so until now there have been no specialized tools for our underwater-detection projects. With COMSOL Multiphysics, though, you can tailor virtually everything to your particular needs, and I find the package very impressive".

Perfectly matched layers reduce the domain

Several features make the Acoustics Module particularly adept at addressing this range of applications. For instance, the theoretical domain of most acoustic problems is infinity, but modeling that domain is beyond the capabilities of any computer. To allow the successful modeling of a truncated well-defined space, the Acoustics Module uses perfectly matched layers (PMLs), a technique that has emerged as perhaps the most convenient yet accurate way to truncate an open acoustic environment. A PML is an additional domain that absorbs incident radiation without producing reflections.

Another key element of acoustic studies is damping, and the Acoustics Module offers three ways of introducing absorption in both solids and fluids: using the Delany-Bazley method where the user enters a flow resistivity; by entering a specific absorption coefficient; or with a general-absorption method where users can import complex damping material data.

To help users get a head start on developing their models and to learn tips and tricks to make their modeling more effective, the module comes with a Model Library that contains more than a dozen entries. Each comes with a detailed theoretical discussion followed by step-by-step instructions, although users can instead simply load a supplied model file. One example looks at how to design a woofer and thus involves the multiphysics coupling of electromagnetics, acoustics, and structural aspects. Another examines the open-pipe problem, which is a classic benchmark dealing with resonances. A third studies reflection of forward-propagating modes in a jet engine intake, including a compressible flow and PMLs; results are compared to published simulations and semi-analytical solutions.

The COMSOL Acoustics Module, selling for $4,995, is an add-on module for COMSOL Multiphysics ($7,995), which provides the overall modeling framework including a CAD editor, facilities for defining physics and boundary conditions, mesh generation, solvers, and postprocessing.

About the COMSOL product line

COMSOL Multiphysics™ is a scientific-software environment for the modeling and simulation of any physics-based system. A particular strength is its ability to account for multiphysics phenomena. Optional modules add discipline-specific tools for acoustics, chemical engineering, earth science, electromagnetics, heat transfer, MEMS and structural mechanics. Other products include the COMSOL Reaction Engineering Lab™, which allows users to model reacting systems; and COMSOL Script™, a MATLAB®compatible programming language and command-line modeling tool. These COMSOL products are available for the Windows, Linux, Solaris, and the Macintosh operating systems. Full details about COMSOL Multiphysics and related products are available at www.comsol.com

About the COMSOL Group

COMSOL was founded in 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden, and has grown to include offices in the Benelux, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and a US presence with offices in Burlington, MA, Los Angeles, CA, and Palo Alto, CA. Additional information about the company is available at www.comsol.com

COMSOL and FEMLAB are registered trademarks of COMSOL AB. COMSOL Multiphysics, COMSOL Script, and COMSOL Reaction Engineering Lab are trademarks of COMSOL AB. MATLAB is a registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc. Other products or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.