ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly introduces the COMSOL platform and highlight some of the connections between software settings and the finite element method (FEM) fundamentals. In a nutshell, a simple way to understand how a computer model based on FEM should be developed is to keep in mind how a differential equation is defined and solved. The chapter lists a partial differential equation–solving procedure. It provides a step-by-step approach to see what are the main selections to be made before reaching the COMSOL modeling working environment. In many design, analysis, and optimization practices, it is ideal to have a means to quickly adjust the geometric domains so that different concepts and designs can be tested and optimized. To meet this need, COMSOL software has provided a useful feature allowing geometric parameterization. The chapter presents an example showing the usefulness of the geometric parameterization capability of the COMSOL software.
