Promoting Industrial Innovation with Custom Simulation Apps

• Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
• Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

• Automotive
• Consumer Goods
• Electronics

• Business Operation
• Product Research & Development
• Quality Assurance

• Digital Twin
• Predictive Maintenance
• Remote Asset Management

• Software Design & Engineering Services
• System Integration
• Training

Look at any industry today, from automotive design to consumer electronics, and you will find a common thread that binds them together: the demand for more innovative technology. The latest and greatest technologies are continuously surpassed by even more complex and intricate devices that offer advanced features and functionality. Numerical simulation tools are a viable solution to the challenge of creating more elaborate devices quickly, delivering results with real-world accuracy without the need for building prototypes for each design modification. Some organizations, however, may not have the resources to bring a simulation expert on board to help create and modify models. This is where simulation applications come in. These customized user interfaces are built around numerical simulations of physics-based systems and allow an end user to run multiphysics analyses set up for them by simulation specialists.

The research group at the University at Buffalo (UB) is led by Edward Furlani, a professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with joint appointments in the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Electrical Engineering. With over 30 years of modeling experience in the industrial sector, Furlani has a rich background in developing models for a range of industry needs, from photonics and microfluidics to applied magnetics and microsystems technology. His group at UB is highly interdisciplinary, reflecting both industrial and academic research. The team focuses on developing multiphysics computational models for the development of products with functionality engineered from the nanoscale to the macroscale. They have created numerous COMSOL software models to help industries innovate and grow.

Furlani's group at UB has been leveraging COMSOL Multiphysics software to create customized simulation applications. These apps allow end users to perform desired analyses without needing the expertise to develop the underlying computational models. The team has developed models for various applications, including energy storage devices like electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and membrane technology for seawater desalination and CO2 removal from natural gas. By turning complex models into easy-to-use apps using the Application Builder in COMSOL Multiphysics, the team has empowered a larger group of people to run their own simulation tests. Additionally, the team is running COMSOL Server on a computing cluster through the university's Center for Computational Research (CCR), creating a high-performance and high-throughput computing environment for running apps. This setup allows end users to connect to COMSOL Server through a client or web browser, making it easier for simulation specialists to manage and deploy their apps.

• The team at UB has been able to predict ion transport and equilibrium charge accumulation within electrochemical-based devices, fostering a better understanding of their behavior and optimizing their designs.
• The development of 3D models for membrane technology has provided greater insight into how to optimize these energy-efficient systems, paving the way for additional uses.
• By creating custom applications, the team has enabled more people within organizations to run simulation tests, expediting the product development life cycle and reducing costly trial-and-error engineering.