COMSOL proves that there is an appetite for tailor made and easily deployable simulation applications in the market.
Over the last five years, COMSOL’s biggest achievement has been enabling users to tailor-make engineering and simulation applications (apps) that can be compiled.
The company, which specializes in multiphysics simulations, has released a smattering of new, and important, simulation models.
However, COMSOL Multiphysics’s ability to create stand-alone simulation apps is what will leave a lasting impact on the engineering community.
These apps can run on any system, or on a server, without the need of a license. That is, for example, unless the author of the app chooses to charge their clients.
So, any COMSOL user, be it a large organization or an individual consultant, can get into the business of engineering app creation.
Could this shift in perspective see today’s leaders of simulation focus less on creating universal simulation platforms in favor of enabling the creation of engineering solutions? That’s the bet that COMSOL is making.
A Case for Simulation, Engineering Apps
“Simulation apps is one of our fastest growing areas,” said Bjorn Sjodin, vice president of Product Management at COMSOL. “It started in 2014 with the release of the application builder. It enabled users to build apps around any physical model. Now with the COMSOL Compiler, people can deploy and/or sell their apps any way they want to. We don’t claim ownership.”
Engineers can still choose to offer their simulation apps for free. This tactic is often used by experts in larger organizations who wish to share their knowledge with others in the company.
However, with the compiler, engineers can send stand-alone apps to a paying client, or a series of clients. The compiled apps can be locked to specific computers, have time variably licenses and other controls. Alternatively, users can upload and run the app on the COMSOL Server to offer it as a software as a service (SaaS).
“Our users can make these apps for a precise target user group,” Sjodin added. “The app can export the exact results, plots and files the customer needs. It’s important that our users produce these apps because we can’t possibly come up with all the simulation tools needed by the engineering community. But we can be the software enablers that make this future possible.”
Simulation apps prove the need for democratized engineering tools. Simulation experts create the app and share it with their clients and coworkers. Now, engineering, sales and marketing teams can create the simulations they need; the expert no longer needs to produce one-off models for them. Instead, experts can focus on designing the next big thing. Selling these apps is just an extension of this concept. Sjodin notes that for these reasons, simulation apps are becoming a standard tool for COMSOL users.
The Future of Simulation, Engineering Apps
One of the biggest requests that Sjodin gets from customers is to expand the abilities of the COMSOL Server. This tool enables users to access engineering apps from a web browser.
“Once you send out a compiled app, it’s in the wild. If there is a new version, you can send updates, but you can’t perform version controls,” Sjodin explained. “With the COMSOL Server, the app is installed on a company server—which could be on-premise or in the cloud—and accessible worldwide to employees or clients. Internal and external users can access the updated app immediately. This is a more controlled way to release apps.”
By expanding the capabilities of the COMSOL Server, users will have more control over how their apps are used. The app enables them to more effectively branch out and sell apps as a product. As a result, it won’t be a surprise to see more enterprise server technology included with future releases.
“We are expanding that technology in more directions and with more multiphysics capabilities, of course. We’re making our customers into software developers and they love it!” Sjodin joked. “You’re packaging your simulation knowledge into software and selling it. The app business is still in its infancy, but if we are right, it will be a big win for us in the long run. People will see in the coming years that that was a smart place to focus COMSOL’s attention.”
Updates to COMSOL 5.6 Highlight the Future Interests of the Engineering Industry
Of course, COMSOL isn’t putting all its eggs in the engineering app basket. Its simulation platform is a big hit thanks to its multiphysics focus and consistent user interface (UI).
“You can work with fluid flow modeling one day and mechanical analysis the next and the software looks the same,” Sjodin said. “This consistency in a tight, integrated, and uniform UI is designed from the ground up with multiphysics and ease of use in mind.”
With the release of COMSOL 5.6, the multiphysics-based platform has added a:
- Polymer Flow Module
- Liquid & Gas Properties Module
- Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer Module
- LiveLink for Simulink
Most of these modules have some things in common—a boost in development within various industries and a clear reliance on multiphysics. Sjodin explains that “you can’t do these simulations without multiphysics. For fuel cells, you have the transfer of hydrogen and water, that’s transport phenomena. Then the electricity producing mechanism, which is an electrochemical reaction. That electricity will result in heat transfer and thermal stress and strain—that’s structural mechanics.”
“Fuel cells are big now,” Sjodin added. “They can store wind and solar energy within the hydrogen economy. People believed in fuel cells 20 years ago, but then batteries took off. Now people realize the need for both to complement each other. If you want to extend the range of electric vehicles, you need more fuel than a battery can offer. So, you might have the battery for city driving and the fuel cell for long hauls.”
As for the battery design, COMSOL can be used to produce high fidelity simulations that ensure a system won’t overheat. In fact, the platform can model each cell’s fundamental functions to best avoid disasters and optimize operations.
The hidden beauty of adding these functions to the core multiphysics platform is that it also expands the engineering app business. By accessing these functionalities, companies gain the potential to use them within future apps.
COMSOL Aims to Resonate with the Needs of Engineers
With the modules added to COMSOL 5.6, the company is attempting to recreate its success of staying ahead of the needs of its customers by offering multiphysics modeling.
For instance, a recent focus of COMSOL that resonated with users is high-frequency electromagnetics. Why? Because antenna equipment is becoming smaller and more powerful, so engineers must treat them like multiphysics problems.
“Typically, people just simulated the electromagnetic phenomenon of the antenna, but now with 5G you have to miniaturize the microwave components and take into consideration other physics. For instance, it will create a heat problem which will affect structure and the RF-signal,” Sjodin explained. “All of a sudden, multiphysics is a part of the design of these products so they don’t overheat and stop working.”
Acoustics has been another hit with COMSOL users. Afterall, Sjodin notes that the design of speakers and microphones also involves highly coupled multiphysics simulations, like:
- Acoustics
- Structural mechanics and vibrations
- Electromagnetics
By listening to the needs of the community, especially with the addition of engineering apps, COMSOL continues to be a simulation company to keep an eye on. The company doesn’t only focus on the trend to produce a universal engineering design platform.
Instead, COMSOL’s added goal is to enable its customers to create and package their own solutions to every conceivable engineering problem. If successful (and the competition doesn’t act quickly), most tailor-made simulation solutions could become COMSOL apps. The question is, will the competition be able to break from the fifty-thousand-foot view of universal CAE platforms to see that a simulation app market exists?
