More Than One Force of Nature

This article reviews how engineers can examine multiple influences in only one simulation by using multiphysics technologies. Engineers simulate the model more realistically rather than see the result of one analysis and then the result of another as an unrelated case. Engineers can simulate, say, the combined electrical and mechanical behavior of an overall system as a part of one virtual prototype. Multiphysics, then, can be looked at as a series of finite element and computational fluid flow analyses (FEA/CFD) layered on top of each other to describe the whole and real-life working conditions of the part. FEA solves simultaneous algebraic equations and lets engineers simulate a wide variety of physical phenomena, including laminar flow, turbulent flow, impact, and nonlinear geometric or material simulations. CFD describes how a fluid will flow through a system. With the development of increasingly easier-to-use multiphysics programs, it is likely that more engineering firms will be turning toward these full-scale analyses packages in the near future.