Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been around for more than 50 years and continues to evolve. Today, the technology uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify, and track tags attached to both inanimate objects and living creatures. The great appeal of RFID technology is that unlike bar codes, it allows information to be stored and […]
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Simulation in COMSOL Read More »
Many of the simulations we have developed through the years include materials that behave anisotropically. This class of materials has different material properties in different directions. This anisotropy often needs to be included in computational models to achieve the desired level of accuracy in the simulation outputs. If the material coordinate system of the anisotropic
Anisotropic Material Properties Read More »
Thermal stresses are an important design concern for many engineering applications. When temperatures change, materials can deform or warp leading to the build-up of internal stresses even without the presence of external constraints which can further increase thermal stresses. Modeling and simulation can calculate the deformations, stresses and changing contact pressures using thermal-structural interaction techniques.
Continuity Pairs for Electrical and Thermal Contact Read More »
Many engineers solve heat transfer challenges regularly. Over the last 20 years, AltaSim has developed hundreds of simulations for our clients that include heat transfer as a component. This Tip comes from our experience in solving a heat transfer problem that included thin layers of different materials. Solid elements are the most widely used type
Watch Out for Transparent Layers Read More »
The increasing miniaturization and sophistication of electronic products–ranging from consumer media devices, to medical diagnostic tools, to defense-related sonar applications–presents a bounty of utility and ease for consumers, and an ongoing challenge for design engineers. These seemingly disparate products (audio/mobile device speakers, certain non-invasive medical devices and sonar arrays) share in common a reliance on
In Part 1, we provided a basic introduction to Piezoelectric materials. In this blog, we will take a look at specific products that present a challenge for design engineers due to the need for increased output within smaller devices. Mics and Speakers Piezoelectric materials are used extensively in acoustics. Microphones contain piezoelectric crystals that convert
Engineers post process their simulation results for reasons that range from better understanding their results to communicating those results to others. Developing labels that clearly identify the conditions for a simulation communicates the critical input parameters for the plotted results. In this Tip and Trick, the simulation engineers at AltaSim will show a way to
Using Evaluation Operator in Post-Processing Read More »
As discussed in Part 1, engineers are tasked with designing electrical components that can withstand the increased thermal and mechanical loads required of today’s ever-more-powerful electronics. Sometimes these are entirely new designs built from the ground up, and subjected to holistic testing and prototyping during the R&D phase. But often, manufacturers seek to merely tweak
Cracks in the System – Thermomechanical Fatigue of Electronics Components, Part 2 Read More »
The airbags in your car; the camera on your video doorbell; the phone or other electronic device you’re reading this on right now. The everyday products that make modern life possible wouldn’t be able to run without key electrical components that maintain functionality and stability for years at a time. And yet, these electrical components
Cracks in the System – Thermomechanical Fatigue of Electronics Components, Part 1 Read More »
An electromagnetic wave consists of a coupled oscillating electric field and magnetic field which are always perpendicular to each other. By convention, the “polarization” of electromagnetic waves refers to the direction of the electric field. In 3D geometry, arbitrary polarization is naturally defined by the prescribing the directions of all three components of the electric
Electromagnetic Wave Polarization in 2D Geometry Read More »