Fast solvers and high memory efficiency allow this software to tackle extremely large problems, and its Java user interface can cut weeks from the process
For years Comsol has been known as an industry innovator of software that solves large, complex sets of partial differential equations (PDEs) in engineering and scientific contexts, especially in the field known as multiphysics.
Now the firm announces what it says is a dramatic leap in performance with Femlab 3.
Now available as a standalone program while still being able to tightly integrate into Matlab from MathWorks, the firm's designers wrote optimised code 'from the ground up' in C++ and Java.
Compared to its predecessor, this new product can compute some models as much as 20 times faster while using just 5% as much memory.
Thus in today's standard PCs it can accommodate extremely large problems, and its accelerated Java graphics perform visualisations 30 times as fast.
In addition, a sophisticated user interface that allows scientists and engineers to define complex models in minutes combines with a wide range of optimised solvers to make it the fastest, most efficient modelling software of its type on the market.
Femlab 3 uses the proven finite-element analysis (FEA) method to efficiently solve models of physical phenomena so engineers and scientists can better understand their underlying properties. They can thereby predict how a given system will function without building an expensive prototype, and they can make a process more efficient so it takes less time or makes the best use of expensive raw materials.
The software can model virtually any physical phenomena someone can describe with PDEs including heat transfer, fluid flow, electromagnetics and structural mechanics. Further, Femlab 3 is interdisciplinary; within one easy-to-use graphical interface a researcher can investigate the interactions of these various effects.
For instance, the analysis of a fuel cell might involve not only chemical reactions and electrical currents but also fluid dynamics and heat transfer.
Femlab 3 couples these various transport processes and reactions faster and simpler than any other software, says Comsol. "We've invested more than a hundred programmer-years of effort in this product, and we1re extremely gratified with the results", comments Svante Littmarck, president and CEO of Comsol.
"We've created a package that is many times improved over its predecessor.
"With Femlab 3, users now have the choice of using the software standalone, or they can benefit from its tight coupling into Matlab.
"They can then take advantage of that package's extra analysis capabilities as well as tap into significant add-ons such as Simulink for graphics-based system simulation or the Control System Toolbox to tie physical phenomena into control-system design.
"Users now get the best of both worlds".
Modelling in minutes, not days or weeks, Femlab 3 is an equation-based package whose highlights start with its streamlined modelling capabilities. Femlab 3 runs under Windows 98/2000/NT 4.0/XP as well as Linux, Solaris and HP-UX.
The minimum system configuration is a Pentium processor, 256M bytes of Ram (512M bytes recommended) and an OpenGL-compatible graphics card.
A single-user perpetual license for Femlab 3 has a list price of £4995 including first-class support and automatic upgrades for 12 months; special academic pricing is available.
