COMSOL Multiphysics

Kommentare: If anyone wants to get the best out of this software, it is highly recommended to go through intensive training provided by COMSOL, it is worth. This software is able to do real-world complex simulations, and in my experience, it can often become challenging to even deploy the full potential this software can provide because we are not even aware what can be done with this. It is better to run complex 3D simulations on a powerful workstation or cluster computer, as COMSOL is intensive memory consuming software.

Vorteile: I have been using this software for the past 10 years and have witnessed the growth of this software. COMSOL is one of the best software to date for Multiphysics applications. Some of the distinct advantages I have experienced are:
1. It is very easy to learn provided one must know the underlying theory behind the simulation, i.e. equations and empirical relations one has to consider for a specific problem.
2. Documentation is easily accessible, blog posts and COMSOL user community is very helpful and growing rapidly. Additionally, they have the best and easily accessible support staff able to answer any relevant questions.
3. GUI and post-processing visualizations are remarkable.
4. Highly capable multiphysics software with great ease of use and customizable for a wide range of applications and real-world scenarios. Very easy and simple coupling between physics modules. Simulations are easy to set up which involves multiphysics.
5. CAD modeling is unbeatable. Complex geometries can be solved with an ease that are extremely difficult with other software.

Nachteile: COMSOL has a lot of cons and listing all of them is impossible. But some of them which I frequently have to deal with are:
1. It is computationally intensive software, needs a lot of memory and processing power.
2. It is slow because many post-processing steps equations are solved simultaneously and when actual post-processing is done, it just extracts the results from the solver. This makes the solution extremely slow if complex geometries are involved.
3. Due to the finite element approach, the convergence of the solution can often become challenging.
4. Because of the meshing issues for complex geometries, the converged solution can be difficult to trust. Also, apart from the built-in functions for physics, it can be really hard to figure out how to numerically solve pure and applied math problems that don't fit neatly in their packages.

Vorteile: Very versatile for the study of coupled or multiphysical phenomena, also offering a very good interface with Matlab, for example.
Even more versatile is the fact that the simulation packages that make up the program are multiplatform, so they can run in Windows environments, such as Mac and Linux, for example, which for a teacher, as in my case, gives me wide freedom for its pedagogical use among students.
Another intrinsic property of importance is the fact that the user can define at pleasure, practically the number of local coordinate systems that he wishes, being able to work simultaneously in 3D, 2D and 1D.

Nachteile: The amount of memory that is required to run a simulation is large and the execution time can be quite long for an individual simulation.
However, if the Comsol Mutiphysics is used with a floating network license it is possible to use the client-server operation mode to access the remote calculation resources to solve large models, while continuing to use the graphics card in a machine local for the visualization of the graphics.
This mode of operation can generate many advantages above all in terms of obtaining faster and more efficient results when working with models where intrinsically is being solved over and over again, a large system of equations.