COMSOL

Quick Start

V ERSION 4.0 Beta 2

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Quick Start
© COPYRIGHT 1998–2010 by COMSOL AB. All rights reserved
Protected by U.S. Patents 7,519,518; 7,596,474; and 7,623,991. Patents pending.
The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software may
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COMSOL, COMSOL Multiphysics, COMSOL Reaction Engineering Lab, and FEMLAB are
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Other product or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Version: February 2010 COMSOL 4.0 Beta 2 Part number: CM010004
 Quick Start

Introduction 2
Overview of the COMSOL Desktop 4
Setting Up Your First Model 7
Creating the Model - Part I 10
Creating the Model - Part II 22
Creating a Model - Part III 31

1
Introduction
COMSOL 4.0 introduces many new ideas and concepts to make it easier for you
to create models. The following are the most important updates to the graphical
user interface:

New Layout In COMSOL 4.0 it is easier to organize and design models with the
intuitive structure of the COMSOL Desktop. The Model Builder (previously called
Model Tree) displays all the features of your model in one place.

Personalized desktop: Control how you organize the COMSOL Desktop

layout—your preferences are saved for the next time you open COMSOL
Multiphysics.

Sequencing: You can now build custom model sequences to generate your
geometry, physics, mesh, studies, and results. The sequences can be edited—
changes are automatically updated across the model.

Material-oriented modeling procedure: Materials are now assigned to a domain.

By default, the material is used in all physics interfaces for this domain, making it
easier to manage all material properties from one window.

Multiple solutions: With the new layout, you can save and view many solutions,
and compare and contrast the results in the Results node.

Dynamic help: The new context-dependent help enables easy browsing with
extended search functionality. The Help Desk provides access to the complete
documentation set.

Improved graphics: Faster, better looking graphics with improved accuracy over
steep-gradient areas.

Model settings: Access to the model settings are easier and more intuitive. When
you select a node in the Model Builder, a docked window containing associated
settings displays at the same time. Where the window is located on your desktop
depends on your personalized layout.

2
Custom labels: Create custom labels to define selections of domains, boundaries,
edges, and points. These selections are available in domain and boundary settings
for the model physics interfaces.

COMSOL version 4 also introduces:

• Geometry parameter sweeps with full associativity.

• 3D geometry operations that can be performed in combination with imported
geometries. This substantially extends the possibility to manually repair
imported CAD geometries.
• New and enhanced physics interfaces and predefined multiphysics couplings.
• New parallel solvers and higher solver performance.
As you run the example in this manual, you will discover a lot of other
improvements and new functionality.

Note: This COMSOL 4.0 Beta version cannot open MPH-files from previous
COMSOL versions. The final release of COMSOL 4.0 will be backward
compatible with COMSOL 3.5a. We expect it to also be backward compatible
with this Beta version.

3
Overview of the COMSOL Desktop

The COMSOL Desktop includes the Main menu, the Model Builder, the Settings window, the Messages
window, and the Graphics window.

MODEL BUILDER AND SETTINGS WINDOWS

The Model Builder controls the modeling procedure. The model is set up by either
using the predefined branch order (from the top down) or by designing it in your
own way. The main branches contain general functionality including: the Global
Definitions branch, for global parameters and functions; the Model branch, for local
Definitions, Geometry, Materials, Physics, and Meshes; the Study branch, where you
can set up study sequences including various analysis types; and the Results branch.

You can add more than one model to the Model Builder. Each model can be
defined differently in the one MPH-file, for example, if you need to have part of
your model in 2D and other parts in 3D, or when setting up a system model with
several components. The Model branch is furnished with functionality for local
definitions and there is an option to define global parameters across all the models.

Context menus are available for many model operations—just right-click the
relevant node in the Model Builder and select the one you want. A corresponding

4
Settings window displays next to the Model Builder where additional properties
and parameters can be fine-tuned.

The Model Builder is displayed next to the Settings window.

GRAPHICS WINDOW
The Graphics window displays the visual representation of your geometry, mesh,
or results plot as defined by the applicable Model Builder node. When you are
working in the Settings window, and click on a domain, boundary, edge, or point,
the geometry in the Graphics window highlights and color-codes the
corresponding selection.

To add a part of the geometry to a selection list you left-click on the part (for
example, a domain, boundary, edge, or point) and then right-click anywhere in the
Graphics window. You can also highlight and add or remove items in the selection
list by using the Add to Selection and Remove from Selection buttons in the Settings
window.

The figure below shows the selection list for boundaries—select a boundary
manually or use a predefined selection. In the case below, the heat sink boundaries
in the model correspond to one selection, while the wall boundaries correspond to

5
a second selection. This makes it possible to select different color tables, such as
Rainbow and GrayScale for the different surface plots.

The selection list displays the selected boundaries where a specific setting is applied. The buttons to the
right are the Add to Selection (plus sign), Remove from Selection (minus sign), and Clear Selection (red
cross).

6
Setting Up Your First Model
This exercise describes the modeling procedure and demonstrates several of the
most important new functionalities in COMSOL V4:

Sequencing: The power of sequencing is exemplified when you: define and create
the mesh of the geometry; define the study sequence (which automatically
generates your solver sequence); and, visualize your results.

Material properties: All material properties are listed under the Materials node.
The material properties needed by any physics interface display in the Settings for
a defined material. This gives an overview of the inputs required in your model and
the properties available for this material.

Geometry sequencing: The power of this feature is demonstrated when you run
a parameterized geometry sweep. The parameterized geometry sweep
automatically runs the sequence of operations for all your model settings for
different dimensions of the modeled device and administers your results.

MODEL CONCEPT AND DESIGN

This example model consists of a two-hot-arm thermal actuator made of
polysilicon. The following points are relevant to the model design and how to
implement it in COMSOL 4.0.

Physics Principles of the Actuator

The actuator is activated through thermal expansion. The temperature increase
required to deform the two hot arms, and thus displace the actuator, is obtained
through Joule heating (resistive heating). The greater expansion of the hot-arms,
compared to the cold arm, causes a bending of the actuator.

The material properties of polysilicon are temperature dependent, which means

that the involved physics phenomena are fully coupled. The electric current
through the hot arms increases the temperature in the actuator, which in turn
causes thermal expansion and changes the electrical conductivity of the material.

7
The actuator’s operation thus involves three coupled physics phenomena: electric
current conduction, heat conduction with heat generation, and structural stresses
and strains due to thermal expansion.

Upper surface
Substrate

240 µm Hot arms

3 µm

2 µm

Dimple Cold arm Anchors

Boundary Conditions and Constraints

The boundary conditions and constraints, which describe the actuator’s interaction
with its environment, are described next.

An electric potential is applied between the bases of the hot arms’ anchors. The
cold arm anchor and all other surfaces are electrically insulated.

Ground

Applied voltage

8
The temperature of the base of the three anchors and the three dimples is fixed to
that of the substrate’s constant temperature. Since the structure is sandwiched, all
other boundaries interact thermally with the surroundings by conduction through
thin layers of air.

Note: This is accurately described by a convective cooling condition, even

though there is no convection.

The heat transfer coefficient is given by the thermal conductivity of air divided by
the distance to the surrounding surfaces for the system. In this exercise, different
heat transfer coefficients are used for the actuator’s upper and other surfaces.

Fixed temperature
Heat flux = h(T-Tamb)
T

Fixed temperature

Fixed temperature

All three arms are mechanically fixed at the base of the three anchors. The dimples
can move freely in the plane of the substrate (xy-plane in the figure) but do not
move in the direction perpendicular to the substrate (the z-direction).

Fixed

Fixed

Roller

9
Analysis
When analyzing the actuator you will get the displacement as a function of the
potential drop and the temperature. You can easily extend the analysis for
evaluation of different geometry dimensions.

EXERCISE OVER VIEW

This exercise is divided into three parts:

The first step treats Joule heating only. This gives you an idea of the
temperature increase obtained at different applied potentials over the actuator.
Initially, you will simulate, through a study sequence, the stationary current
distribution and temperature field in the thermal actuator. You will also see a
transient cool-down when the current over the actuator is turned off.

The second step covers thermal expansion. The study sequence automatically
sets up the parametric solver for different values of the potential over the actuator,
thus generating an estimated displacement as a function of potential.

The third step highlights parameterized geometry sweeps. In this case, the
actuator geometry is parameterized to investigate differing hot-arm lengths on the
actuator’s operation.

The physics phenomena and the boundary conditions are described through a
physics interface for Electromagnetic Heating in the first part of the exercise. The
second and third part of the exercise are carried out with a physics interface for
Electromagnetic Heating with Thermal Stress.

Creating the Model - Part I

DEFINING MODEL 1 AND SELECTING THE PHYSICS

1 Go to the Model Wizard window. The 3D option button is selected by default.
2 Click the Next button (the right direction arrow) on the Select Space Dimension
toolbar.

10
3 In the Add Physics page, select Predefined Multiphysics>Electromagnetic
Heating>Joule Heating (jh).
This physics interface contains a predefined multiphysics coupling between the
conduction of electric current and thermal analysis. The resistive losses generate
heat while the material properties, such as the electric conductivity, can be
temperature dependent.

Context-sensitive Help
Finish
Next
Back

Add or Remove
Selected buttons

4 Click the Add Selected (the blue + sign) button.

5 Click the Next button (the right direction arrow).
6 On the Select Study Type page, under Studies, select Preset Studies>Stationary.
The physics interfaces contain a set of Preset Studies to define the appropriate
equations and solver sequences adapted for optimal performance. The Custom
Studies are not directly defined by a physics interface, and in some cases they may
not even be relevant for the selected physics. If you want to set up the solver
sequences manually, and possibly modify the equations, select Custom Studies,
otherwise use a Preset Study.
7 Click the Finish button (the black and white checkered flag).

11
8 Click the Save button to save the file on your computer or network. Remember
to regularly click Save or Ctrl S so you don’t lose your work.

The Settings window opens to the Geometry page where you start adding
parameters to the model.

ADDING GLOBAL PARAMETERS

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Model 1 and select Rename.
2 Enter Thermal Actuator in the New name field. Click OK.
3 In the Model Builder window, right-click Global Definitions and select Parameters.
The Settings window opens to the Parameters page.
4 Under the Parameters section, enter or copy and paste the following into the
table:

NAME EXPRESSION DESCRIPTION

htc_s 0.04[W/(m*K)]/2[um] heat transfer coefficient

for all surfaces except
upper
htc_us 0.04[W/(m*K)]/100[um] heat transfer coefficient
for the upper surface
DV 10[V] applied voltage
t 0[s] time

The heat transfer coefficient for the upper surface of the actuator is htc_us and
for all other surfaces is htc_s. This is because all other surfaces are not
connected to the substrate and have a fixed temperature. The heat transfer
coefficient is estimated from the thermal conductivity of air divided by the
distance to the substrate (htc_s) or to other parts of the system. The
expressions for the heat transfer coefficient can also be defined as
temperature-dependent variables if necessary.
The time parameter, t, is used to define a step function that turns off the
potential difference over the actuator at a given instant.

ADDING A STEP FUNCTION TO MODEL 1

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Global Definitions and select
Functions>Step.
The Settings window opens to the Step page and a Step 1 node is added under
Global Definitions on the Model Builder window.

12
2 On the Step page, under Function Name, enter off in the field.
3 On the Step page, under the Parameters section:
a In the Location field, enter 0.05.
b In the From field, enter 1.
c In the To field, enter 0.
4 Click the Plot button to the right on the Settings window toolbar.

A plot displays in the Graphics window. Inspect this step function. It is used
later to relax the potential across the actuator.
5 On the Step page, under Smoothing, verify the step Size of transition zone.

ADDING A GEOMETRY TO MODEL 1

1 In the Model Builder, right-click Geometry 1 and select Import.
The Settings window opens to the Import page and an Import 1 node is added
under Geometry 1 on the Model Builder window.
2 On the Import page, under Import, select COMSOL Multiphysics file from the
Geometry import list.
3 Click the Browse button and locate the Model Library folder on your computer.
Select the file thermal_actuator.mphbin, opening it from the browser. The
file is located in
COMSOL40Beta2>models>COMSOL_Multiphysics>Multiphysics.
4 Click Import.

5 In the Graphics window, click the Zoom Extents button on the toolbar.

13
ADDING GEOMETRIC SCOPE TO MODEL 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Definitions under the Thermal Actuator
node and choose Selection.
The Settings window opens to the Selection page and a Selection 1 node is added
to the model sequence.
2 On the Selection page, under Geometric Scope, select Boundary from the
Geometric entity level list.
3 To select the substrate contact boundaries of the dimples and the three anchors:
a On the Graphics toolbar click the Wireframe Rendering and then the Go to YZ
View buttons. If required, click the Zoom Extents or Zoom In buttons.

Go to YZ View Select Box Wireframe Rendering

b Click the Select Box button and click-drag a box around the lower boundaries
like the image below.
The lower boundaries are now highlighted in red.

14
4 Right-click anywhere in the Graphics window.

The boundaries (10, 30, 50, 70, 76, and 82) are highlighted in blue and added
to the Selection input list.
5 Using the graphics toolbar and mouse, rotate the actuator geometry to your
desired view. It should look like the image below.

6 In the Model Builder window, right-click Selection 1 and select Rename.

7 Enter Substrate Contact in the New name field.

ADDING MATERIALS
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Materials and select Open Material
Browser.
2 On the Material Browser page, select Common Materials>Polysilicon.
3 Right-click Polysilicon and click Add Material to Model.
The Settings window opens to the Material page and a Polysilicon node is added
to the model sequence under Materials.
4 In the Settings window, under Geometric Scope, the Selection list defaults to All
domains and material specific properties are added to these sections.

- Under Material Contents, the Properties used by the physics interfaces table lists
all the material properties required by the physics interfaces defined for the
model.
- In the Property called Electric conductivity, the Value is assigned sigma(T),
which means that it is a function of the temperature; a function taken from
the COMSOL Multiphysics’ internal Material Library.
- The Thermal conductivity is also a function of temperature; its Value is assigned
k(T).

Note: Remember to regularly save the MPH-file so you don’t lose your work.

15
ADDING THE PHYSICS

Joule Heating (jh)

1 On the Model Builder, right-click Joule Heating and select the second listing of
Electric Currents> Ground.

Note: The first section of the menu contains domain settings, the second
boundary settings, the third edge settings, and the fourth section contains point
settings.

Domain settings

Boundary settings

Edge settings

Point settings

2 On the Ground page, select boundary 10 directly from the geometry in the
Graphics window. To find boundary 10 you may have to rotate the actuator
geometry. Click to highlight the geometry as in the image below and click the
Add to Selection button in the Settings window. This sets a zero voltage on the
upper anchor.

16
3 Right-click Joule Heating. In the second section of the menu, select Electric
Currents>Electric Potential.
4 On the Graphics window, select boundary 30 and click the Add to Selection
button on the Electric Potential page.
5 On the Electric Potential page, under Electric Potential enter DV*off(t) in the
V0 field.
This activates the previously defined step function (off), to begin switching off
the potential difference over the actuator at t = 0 and over a time period of 0.1 s.

6 Right-click Joule Heating. From the first section, select Heat Transfer>Convective
Cooling.
7 On the Convective Cooling page, in the Boundaries Selection list, select All
boundaries. All boundaries are added to the Selection list.
8 Under Boundaries, select boundary 4 (the top surface) and click the Remove from
Selection button (the minus sign).
On boundary 4 you will use another cooling condition. You can add the cooling
to all other boundaries at this point; a temperature boundary condition will
replace it for some boundaries.
9 On the Convective Cooling page, under Heat Flux, enter the previously defined
parameter htc_s in the h field.
10 Right-click Joule Heating. In the second section of the menu, select Heat
Transfer>Temperature.
11 Under Boundaries, select the previously defined Substrate Contact from the
Selection list. This constrains the temperature of the boundaries, connected
to the substrate, to the substrate’s temperature (293.15 K).

17
12 Right-click Joule Heating. In the second section of the menu, select Heat
Transfer>Convective Cooling.
13 On the Graphics window, locate and left-click on boundary 4 (the top surface of
the geometry), then right-click boundary 4 to add it to the Selection list.
14 On the Convective Cooling page, under Heat Flux, enter htc_us in the h field.

The physics are defined for the Joule heating problem.

ADDING MESHING
1 In the Model Builder window, under Mesh 1 node, click Size.
2 On the Size page, under Predefined Element Size select Fine from the Size list.
3 Right-click Mesh 1 and select Free Tetrahedral.
4 Click the Build Selected button, located in the Settings window toolbar.

A mesh is applied to the geometry as below.

Build buttons

18
Note: For thin-layered structures, using a swept mesh often gives higher accuracy
without adding to the solution time. If you want to explore this option,
right-click Thermal Actuator and select Mesh. You can then continue creating this
second mesh according to the meshing instructions in part II of this exercise.

ADDING A STUDY AND COMPUTING

1 In the Model Builder, right-click Study 1 and select Time Dependent.
2 On the Time Dependent page, under Study Settings enter range(0,0.01,0.3) in
the Times field. This runs the simulation for 0.3 s providing output results every
0.01 s.
3 In the Model Builder, right-click Study 1 and select Compute to automatically
create a solver sequence and compute the solution.
If you have created two meshes, a tetrahedral mesh and a swept one, you can
select which mesh you want to use for each study step. For example, click the
Stationary node. Go to the Settings window and locate the Mesh Selection section.
You can select the desired mesh in the Mesh list. This gives you the possibility to
quickly compare results using different meshes.

PLOTTING THE RESULTS

3D Plot Group 1
The default plot shows the Electric Potential through the actuator.

1 In the Model Builder, under the Results node, click Surface 1 from 3D Plot Group
1. The Surface page opens in the Settings window.
2 On the Surface page, to the right of the Expression section, click the Replace
Expression (arrow pointing downwards) button. Select Joule
Heating>Temperature (T).
3 Under Coloring and Style, select Cyclic from the Color Table list.
4 In the Model Builder, click 3D Plot Group 1.
5 On the 3D Plot Group page, under Data, select 0 from the Time list.

19
6 Click the Plot button to display the stationary solution prior to the
cooling-down of the actuator.

Plot Group ID
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Results and select Plot Group 1D.
2 Right-click 1D Plot Group 3 and select Line Graph.
The Settings window opens to the Line Graph page.
3 On the Line Graph page, to the right of the Selection section, click the Activate
Selection button. This activates the geometry in the Graphics window.
4 In the Graphics window, click on the geometry to select edge 52—it is along the
arm of the actuator (see below). Confirm that the number 52 displays in the
Selection field.

5 In the Settings window, in the upper-right corner of the Y-Axis Data section, click
the Replace Expression button (arrow pointing downwards). Select Heat Transfer
>Temperature (T).

20
6 Click the Plot button.

The Results Analysis

This plot shows the temperature during the cool-down process in the longer of the
two hot arms when the potential across the actuator is relaxed according to the
function off. You can select the 1D Plot Group 3 node in the Model Builder and enter
x-axis label, y-axis label, and title for your plot. You can also rename your nodes
under the Results node as required.

This completes part I of the exercise. You have now simulated the stationary and a
transient study of the heating and cooling of the actuator. In the next example, you
will study the thermal expansion of the same component due to this Joule heating.

Save your model if you would like to return to it again later. Otherwise, to start the
next exercise, click on the New button the Main toolbar.

21
Creating the Model - Part II

DEFINING MODEL 1 AND SELECTING THE PHYSICS

1 Click the New button on the Main toolbar to open the Model Wizard window.
The 3D option button is selected by default.
2 Click the Next button (the right direction arrow) on the Select Space Dimension
toolbar.
3 In the Add Physics page, select Predefined Multiphysics>Electromagnetic Heating
with Thermal Stress>Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion (tem).
4 Click the Add Selected (the blue + sign) button.
This physics interface contains a predefined multiphysics coupling between the
conduction and conservation of electric charges, thermal analysis, and thermal
stresses and strains. The resistive losses generate heat while the material
properties, such as the electric and thermal conductivities and the density of the
material, are temperature dependent.
5 Click the Next button (the right direction arrow).
6 On the Select Study Type page, under Studies, select Preset Studies>Stationary.
7 Click the Finish button (the black and white checkered flag).
8 Click the Save button to save the file on your computer or network. Remember
to regularly click Save or Ctrl S so you don’t lose your work.

ADDING GLOBAL PARAMETERS

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Model 1 and select Rename.
2 Enter Thermal Actuator in the New name field. Click OK.
3 In the Model Builder window, right-click Global Definitions and select Parameters.

22
4 Under the Parameters section, enter or copy and paste the following into the
table:

NAME EXPRESSION DESCRIPTION

htc_s 0.04[W/(m*K)]/2[um] heat transfer

coefficient for all
surfaces except upper
htc_us 0.04[W/(m*K)]/100[um] heat transfer
coefficient for the
upper surface
DV 10[V] applied voltage
t 0[s] time

The heat transfer coefficient for the upper surface of the actuator is htc_us and
for all other surfaces is htc_s. This is because all other surfaces are not
connected to the substrate and have a fixed temperature.
The heat transfer coefficient is estimated from the thermal conductivity of air
divided by the distance to the substrate (htc_s) or to other parts of the system.
The expressions for the heat transfer coefficient can also be defined as
temperature-dependent variables if necessary.
The time parameter, t, is used to define a step function that turns off the
potential difference over the actuator at a given instant.

ADDING A GEOMETRY TO MODEL 1

Follow the same procedures as in “Adding a Geometry to Model 1” on page 13.

ASSIGNING GEOMETRIC SCOPE TO MODEL 1

Follow the same procedures as in “Adding Geometric Scope to Model 1” on page
14.

ADDING MATERIALS
Follow the same procedures as in “Adding Materials” on page 15.
ADDING THE PHYSICS

Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion (tem)

1 On the Model Builder, right-click Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion and select
the second listing of Solid Mechanics>Fixed Constraint.

23
Note: The first section of the menu contains domain settings, the second
boundary settings, the third edge settings, and the fourth section contains point
settings.

2 On the Fixed Constraint page, select boundaries 10, 30, and 50 (anchors) to
include in the Selection section. This fixes these boundaries to the substrate.

3 In the Model Builder, right-click Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion. In the
second section of the menu, select Solid Mechanics>Roller.
4 On the Roller page, select boundaries 70, 76, and 82 (the dimples) to include in
the Selection section. This allows these boundaries to move freely over the face
of the substrate while fixing their position perpendicular to this surface.

5 In the Model Builder, right-click Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion. In the
second section of the menu, select Heat Transfer>Convective Cooling.
6 On the Convective Cooling page, under Boundaries, select All boundaries from the
Selection list.
7 Click 4 in the Selection list and Remove from Selection (click the minus sign).
On this boundary you will use another cooling condition. You can add the
cooling to all other boundaries at this point; a temperature boundary condition
will replace it for some boundaries.
8 Under Heat Flux enter htc_s in the h field.

24
9 In the Model Builder, right-click Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion. In the
second section of the menu, select Heat Transfer>Temperature.
10 On the Temperature page, under Boundaries, select Substrate Contact from the
Selection list.
This constrains the temperature of the boundaries connected to the
substrate to the substrate’s temperature (293.15 K).

11 Right-click Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion. In the second section of the
menu, select Heat Transfer>Convective Cooling.
12 Select boundary 4 (the upper surface of the geometry) and add it to the Selection
list on the Convective Cooling page.
13 On the Convective Cooling page, under Heat Flux, enter htc_us in the h field

14 Right-click Joule Heating and Thermal Expansion. In the second section of the
menu, select Electric Currents>Ground.
15 Select boundary 10 and add it to the Selection list on the Ground page. This sets
a zero voltage on the upper anchor according to the figure below.

16 Right-click Joule Heating and Thermal expansion. In the second section of the
menu, select Electric Currents>Electric Potential.

25
17 Select boundary 30 and add it to the Selection list on the Electric Potential page.

18 On the Electric Potential page, under Electric Potential, enter DV in the V0 field.

ADDING MESHING
There are many different ways of meshing your geometry. The simplest option is
to create a tetrahedral mesh. You can find the instructions for creating such a mesh
in part I of this exercise. If you want to explore the swept meshing functionality for
meshing thin layered structures, follow the instructions below.

1 In the Model Builder window, under Mesh 1 node, click Size.

2 On the Size page, under Predefined Element Size select Fine from the Size list.
3 Right-click Mesh 1 and select Free Triangular.
4 On the Free Triangular page, the Geometric entity level defaults to Boundary.
From the Selection list, select Substrate Contact.
5 Click the Build Selected button, located in the Settings window toolbar.

A mesh is applied on the selected boundaries, as above.

The Size node controls the size of the free triangular mesh. You can also select
Finer as a Predefined Element Size, then select the Free Triangular 1 node and click
Build Selected again to refine the mesh.
6 With a Fine mesh, right-click Mesh 1 and select Swept.
7 On the Swept page, under Domains, select Domain from the Geometric entity level
list.

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8 To select Domains 2–7 only:
a Select All domains from the Selection list.
b Select (domain) 1 and click the Remove from Selection button.
9 In the Model Builder, right-click Swept 1 and select Distribution.
10 On the Distribution page, under Distribution, enter 2 in the Number of elements
field.

Note: You can refine the mesh size along the mesh sweep direction by changing
the number of elements parameter in the Distribution node.

11 In the Model Builder, click the Swept 1 node.

12 On the Settings window, click the Build Selected button. A 2-elements deep mesh
is added to the anchors and dimples (see below).

13 In the Model Builder, right-click Mesh 1 and select Free Triangular.

14 On the Free Triangular page, under Boundaries, select Boundary from the
Geometric entity level list.
15 Select boundary 3 only, which is the underside of the main part of the actuator,
see figure below.
16 On the Settings window, click the Build Selected button.

17 In the Model Builder, right-click Mesh 1 and select Swept.

18 On the Swept page, under Domains, select Domain from the Level list.

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19 Select domain 1 only, which is the main part of the actuator geometry.
20 In the Model Builder, right-click > Swept 2 and select Distribution.
21 On the Distribution page, under Distribution, enter 2 in the Number of elements
field.
22 In the Model Builder, click the > Swept 2 node.
23 On the Settings window, click the Build All button
A mesh sequence representing the Model Builder sequence is built according to
the figure below. You can edit the settings for any node in the sequence. By
clicking the Build All button, the whole sequence is updated according to any
changes.

ADDING A STUDY AND COMPUTING

1 In the Model Builder, right-click Study 1 and select Stationary 1.
2 On the Stationary page, under Study Settings, select the Continuation check box.
3 In the Continuation parameter field, enter DV. In the Parameter values field, enter
range(5,1,12).
This simulates the actuator starting with a voltage drop of 5 V, and then solving
repeatedly with 1 V intervals to 12 V.
4 In the Model Builder, right-click Study 1 and select Compute to automatically
create a solver sequence and compute the solution.

Note: This operation is specific for the current V4 beta version. In the final
release, you will be able to select the Parametric solver from the Study branch.

PLOTTING THE RESULTS

3D Plot Group 1
The default plot shows the displacement of the actuator as a surface plot.

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1 In the Model Builder, under the Results node and 3D Plot Group 1, click Surface 1.
The Surface page opens in the Settings window.
2 On the Surface page, to the right of the Expression section, click the Replace
Expression (arrow pointing downwards) button. Select Heat
Transfer>Temperature (T).
3 Under Coloring and Style, select Cyclic from the Color Table list.
4 On the Model Builder window, right-click Surface 1 and select Deformation.
5 On the Deformation page, to the right of the Expression section, click Replace
Expression and choose Solid Mechanics>Displacement field (u).
6 Click the Plot button.

Plot Group 1D
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Results and select Plot Group 1D.
2 Right-click ID Plot Group 3 and select Point Graph.
3 On the Point Graph page, under Selection, select point 167 (a point on the corner
furthest from the anchors on the top arm of the actuator). To select this
individual point:
a Select All points from the Selection list.
b Click on the first boundary in the Selection list (1) and hold the Shift key
down to select from 1–166. Click the Remove from Selection button.
c Click to highlight boundary 168 and click the Remove from Selection button.

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4 In the upper-right corner of the Expression section, click Replace Expression.
5 From the menu, choose Solid Mechanics>Total Displacement (disp_tem).
6 Under the X-Axis Data section, select Expression from the Parameter list.
7 Enter DV in the Expression field.
8 On the Model Builder, click 1D Plot Group 3. On the ID Plot Group page, under
Plot Settings, enter Voltage [V] in the x-axis label field and Displacement [m]
in the y-axis label field.
9 Click the Plot button.

Note: The displacement (blue line) increases slightly exponentially, since the heat
source is proportional to the square of the current density. This is damped by the
fact that the electric conductivity of polysilicon decreases with temperature.

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This completes part II of the exercise where you have simulated the displacement
of the actuator as a function of the applied voltage. In the next part, you will run
geometric parameter studies in COMSOL Multiphysics to investigate differing arm
lengths on the actuator’s operation.

Save your model if you would like to return to it again later. Otherwise, to start the
next part of the exercise, click the New button in the Main toolbar.

Creating a Model - Part III

In part III of this exercise, the actuator geometry is parameterized. All length
variables in the geometry relate to the total length of the device, L. The figure
below shows the relation between the different lengths. These parameters are
defined in the Parameters node in the model. The positions of all components of
the geometry are also related to the total length of the actuator.

DEFINITIONS
1 Click the Open button in the Main toolbar.
2 Browse to the model’s Model Library folder, comsol/models/MEMS_Module/
Actuators.
3 Select the file thermal_actuator_tem_parameterized.mph and click Open.
4 On the Model Builder, under Global Definitions, click the Parameters node.
5 Inspect the Parameters list.

STUDY 1
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Study 1 and select Parametric Sweep.

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2 On the Parametric Sweep page:
a In the Parameter names field Enter L.
b In the Parameter values field, enter range(2.4e-4,1e-5,3e-4) to create a
set of values from 2.4·10−4 to 3·10−4 with increments of 10−5.
3 Right-click Study 1 and select Compute.
The Parametric Sweep creates 8 data sets. You can refer to these data sets from the
Plot Groups in the Results branch.

REFERRING TO DATA SETS FROM THE RESULTS BRANCH

You can use data set tags to refer to a specific data set from a Plot Group. To inspect
the tags in the Model Builder:

1 Click the down arrow to the right of the Model Builder window name.

2 Right-click Results in the Model Builder and select Plot Group 1D.
3 Right-click 1D Plot Group 3 (pg3) and select Line Graph.
4 On the Line Graph page, under Data, select Solution 2 (dset2) from the Data set
list.
5 Under the Selection section, click the Activate Selection button (the green check
box in the section’s upper-right corner).

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6 On the Graphics window, click the Go to Default 3D view button to view the
geometry.
7 Select and add edge 52 to the Selection section on the Line Graph page.

8 Under Y-Axis Data, click the Replace Expression button (the blue arrow).
9 From the menu, select Solid Mechanics>Total displacement (disp_tem).
10 In the X-Axis Data section, select Expression from the Parameter list.
11 In the Expression field, enter x-wb to define the x-axis value as the x coordinate
but with the value 0 at the position defined by wb.
12 Under the Legends section, select Manual from the Legends list.
13 Click the first row in the Legends table. enter L=240e-6[m] in the Legends field.
14 Click the Plot button.

By repeating the above steps, creating line graphs for the remaining data sets you
can reproduce the following plot showing the displacement of the arm for different
arm lengths at an operation voltage of 10 V.

Using the procedure described above for other plot types allows you to study the
influence of the actuators length on other variables in the model.

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