When you speak up in a virtual meeting, recite voice commands into smart devices, or talk over the phone, there’s a good chance it’s MEMS technology that picks up your voice. This is due to the frequent use of this solid-state semiconductor technology in creating small speakers that produce high-quality sound. In this blog post, we explore the benefits that MEMS bring to microphones, the challenges that come with producing MEMS microphones, and how modeling and simulation can help make the design process of these microphones more efficient. We also discuss the latest advancements in modern mic ..read more

I watched the latest Top Gun movie, Top Gun: Maverick a few weeks ago. It is a really awesome movie, and it is also cutting edge from an engineering standpoint. The movie starts with Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, working as a test pilot preparing to fly a new secretly developed airplane, the Darkstar, capable of flying Mach 10. Simultaneously, Rear Admiral Chester Cain, played by Ed Harris, makes his way to the test base to shut down the program — considering the Darkstar had not yet been able to fly Mach 10, which was a requirement for the project to continue — but Maverick takes action bef ..read more

One of the more common questions we get is: What is the best way to evaluate stresses in the presence of singularities? The most accurate answer is to avoid doing so. However, that is of little help for practical engineering. In this blog post, we take an in-depth look at the properties of singular stress fields and discuss some possible approaches. This is a follow-up to our blog post “Singularities in Finite Element Models: Dealing with Red Spots”, which describes when and why singular stresses appear in structural mechanics models. It offers a general introduction to singularities and is t ..read more

For thousands of years, people have observed the night sky, working to unravel the mysteries it beholds, decipher the stars, and map the cosmos. Today marks the birthday of a luminary astronomer who discovered multiple comets and star clusters and laid the foundation for the star catalog, which is still used by astronomers worldwide. Join us in exploring the life and legacy of Caroline Herschel. A Beginning in Music Caroline Lucretia Herschel was born on March 16, 1750, in Hanover, Germany. Her father encouraged all six of his children to study music and mathematics, ultimately inspiring a pas ..read more

The two-capacitor paradox is a provocative thought experiment set up to expose some of the limitations of electrical circuit modeling, and many different ways of resolving the paradox have been devised. I’ll add a solution to the mix that can be modeled in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and then expand upon it to ask, and answer, an even more provocative question: Do capacitance and inductance exist? Let’s dive in! The Two-Capacitor Paradox This thought experiment is usually presented as: Consider a device composed of two equivalent capacitors, with capacitance, , connected in parallel ..read more

Convolution is a useful mathematical operation, applied in various fields for signal and image processing, statistics, and so on. Acoustic engineers often use convolution to process acoustic signals in order to extract the desired information or better interpret sound. In this blog post, we introduce three methods for performing convolution in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. We will discuss implementing convolution by applying the methods to the low-pass filtering of a room impulse response (IR) and show one example of the auralization of room acoustics. Convolution: Definition and Met ..read more

HVAC systems do more than provide the smooth, chilled air that flows when the temperature outside rises. Within these systems, air moves through filters to ensure high air quality. With clean air at stake, modeling and simulation can be used to gain an in-depth understanding of the physics behind the behavior of air as it moves through a filter… Modeling an Air Filter The filters within HVAC systems rely on a material (often fiberglass or cotton folds) capable of straining the air and catching particulates like dust, pollen, and bacteria. These materials impact the flow of the air, catching th ..read more

Thermoacoustic engines generate acoustic energy from a thermal input. In contrast to commonly used engines such as reciprocating engines and gas turbines, thermoacoustic engines do not use moving parts, which keeps the structure very simple. In this blog post, we will see how the working mechanisms of thermoacoustic engines can be modeled with the Thermoviscous Acoustics interface, one of the powerful interfaces in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software for modeling the linearized behavior of a fluid. How Thermoacoustic Engines Work More than 150 years ago, Professor Pieter Rijke reported an i ..read more

Beulah Louise Henry was a prolific inventor during the twentieth century, receiving 49 U.S. patents and creating more than 100 inventions. In her work, she focused on solving the problems of daily life through cost-effective and easy-to-produce designs. This National Inventor’s Day, let’s explore Henry’s early life and take a look at a few of her notable inventions that vastly improved typewriters, toys, and textile work. Always Designing with Efficiency and Convenience in Mind As a child, Beulah Louise Henry noticed a man struggling to read the newspaper and carry groceries while walking. Thi ..read more

Mechanical systems often contain components that exhibit nonlinear material behavior. Examples include large elastic deformations in seals and gaskets, strain-rate dependence and hysteresis during cyclic loading in rubbers and soft biological tissues, and elastoplastic flow and creep in metals. Together with its Nonlinear Structural Materials Module add-on, the COMSOL Multiphysics® software contains more than one hundred built-in material models that can be used for modeling highly complex material behavior. However, a drawback with these — often phenomenological — models is that they can ..read more