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Making Smart Materials Smarter with Multiphysics Simulation
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Electronics
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Machine Condition Monitoring
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Engineers at ETREMA Products, Inc. face the challenge of designing devices using magnetostrictive materials, which change shape when exposed to a magnetic field. These materials are crucial for the production of transducers, sensors, and other high-powered electrical devices. The unique properties of magnetostrictive materials, such as their ability to mechanically respond to magnetic fields and their characteristic nonlinearity, make designing these devices complex. The challenge is to accurately represent the material properties and complex physics interactions within such devices to facilitate the production of the next generation of smart products.
About The Customer
ETREMA Products, Inc. is a company that specializes in designing devices using magnetostrictive materials for defense and other industry applications. These applications include sensors, loudspeakers, actuators, SONAR, and energy harvesting devices. ETREMA is the sole commercial producer of Terfenol-D, a giant magnetostrictive material first developed by the U.S. Navy in the 1970s. The company leverages advanced simulation tools to design and optimize their products, ensuring they meet the high standards required for their specialized applications.
The Solution
ETREMA uses COMSOL Multiphysics to model and simulate the complex interactions within their magnetostrictive devices. Their approach involves creating single-physics models to analyze individual physics and then building multiphysics simulations to determine how these physics interact. This method allows for a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the device's behavior. For example, in designing a close-packed SONAR source array, ETREMA used single-physics models to analyze deformation and stress, and multiphysics models to evaluate the overall electro-mechanical characteristics. The models helped optimize the design by reducing deformation and stress, and by ensuring that magnetic fields stayed confined to the magnetic components, thereby minimizing interference with electronics.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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