System and method for accessing settings in a multiphysics modeling system using a model tree

• US 9,323,503 B1
• Filed: 07/15/2011
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comsol AB
• Original Assignee: Comsol AB
• Inventors: Fontes, Eduardo, Langemyr, Lars, Littmarck, Svante, Normark, Tomas, Sjdin, Bjrn, Smith, Daniel, Hiller, Jean-Francois, Malm, Nils
• Primary Examiner(s): Gebresilassie, Kibrom K
• Application Number:
  US13/184,207
• Time in Patent Office: 1,747 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/168 Details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems, e.g. browsing and visualisation, 2d or 3d GUIs query results presentation G06F16/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/13 Differential equations using digital differential analysers G06F7/64
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/10 Numerical modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/23 using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

Systems and methods for generating a model tree structure for a multiphysics modeling system include the acts of transmitting a plurality of selectable physics options for association with at least one of combined systems. An input associated with a selection of at least one of the plurality of selectable physics options is received. One or more selectable study options are transmitted for association with the combined systems. An input associated with a selection of at least one of the one or more selectable study options is received. In response to receiving the input associated with the selection at least one of the one or more selectable study options, a model tree structure is generated using the one or more processing units. The model tree structure includes a plurality of selectable nodes including one or more parent nodes and one or more child nodes. The selectable nodes include fields storing physical quantities and operations for modeling the combined systems.

Claims

1. A method for generating a model tree structure for a multiphysics modeling system configured to model combined physical systems having physical quantities represented in terms of partial differential equations, the method being executable on one or more processing units associated with the multiphysics modeling system, the method comprising the acts of:

transmitting, for display on one or more display devices, a plurality of selectable physics options for association with at least one of the combined physical systems;

receiving, via the one or more processing units, a first input associated with a selection of at least one of the plurality of selectable physics options;

transmitting, for display on the one or more display devices, one or more selectable study options for association with the combined physical systems, each transmitted study option corresponding to at least one of the plurality of selectable physics options;

receiving, via the one or more processing units, a second input associated with a selection of at least one of the one or more selectable study options; and

in response to receiving the second input, generating a model tree structure using the one or more processing units to graphically represent a multiphysics model data structure, the model tree structure including a plurality of user-selectable nodes generated from one or more selected physics options and one or more selected study options, the generated user-selectable nodes including one or more geometry nodes, one or more physics nodes, and one or more study nodes as logically associated branches of the same generated model tree structure such that the plurality of user-selectable nodes include one or more parent nodes and one or more child nodes to the one or more parent nodes, the geometry nodes including user-editable fields for receiving and storing user inputs defining a geometry of the combined physical systems, the user-selectable nodes including fields storing physical quantities for modeling the combined physical systems, at least one of the one or more child nodes including a field storing a modeling operation corresponding to at least one of the selected physics options and at least one of the one or more child nodes including another field storing a modeling operation corresponding to at least one of the selected study options for modeling the combined physical systems,

wherein the one or more child nodes include exclusive and non-exclusive child nodes representing modeling operations to generate contributions to equations associated with one or more geometric entities, the exclusive child nodes overriding other nodes and representing contributions that do not coexist with contributions from other nodes on one or more of the geometric entities, the non-exclusive child nodes representing contributions that coexist with other contributions from other non-exclusive nodes.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, via the one or more processing units, a third input associated with a selection of space dimensions for at least one of the combined physical systems.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-selectable nodes are configured for display on a user interface associated with the multiphysics modeling system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the exclusive and non-exclusive nodes are labeled with dynamic symbols distinguishing the exclusive nodes from the non-exclusive nodes and distinguishing the exclusive and non-exclusive nodes from other nodes in the generated model tree structure.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising in response to receiving an input associated with the selection of a node, displaying an identifying setting of a geometric entity associated with the selected node and further displaying information about exclusive or non-exclusive nodes related to the selected node.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the fields storing the operations corresponding to the at least one of the selected physics options and the at least one of the selected study options are display fields that display the stored operations for modeling the combined physical system.

7. A method for solving a multiphysics model in a multiphysics modeling system, the multiphysics model representing combined physical systems having physical quantities represented in terms of partial differential equations, the multiphysics modeling system being configured to receive model inputs via a model tree, the method being executable on one or more processing units associated with the multiphysics modeling system, the method comprising the acts of:

generating, via the one or more processing units, a geometric representation of the combined physical systems, the geometric representation at least partially corresponding to data received via a first geometry node and one or more secondary geometry nodes, the one or more secondary geometry nodes being geometry child nodes to the first geometry node such that the first geometry node is a geometry parent node to the geometry child nodes, the geometry child nodes representing geometry operations corresponding to the combined physical systems;

assembling physical properties for the geometric representation of the combined physical systems, the physical properties at least partially corresponding to data received via a first materials node and one or more secondary materials nodes, the one or more secondary materials nodes being materials child nodes to the first materials node such that the first materials node is a materials parent node to the materials child nodes, the materials child nodes representing modeling operations for evaluating material properties;

assembling physics quantities and boundary conditions for one or both of the geometric representation and the physical properties of the combined physical systems, the assembling of the physics quantities and boundary conditions being at least partially based on selected physics options received via a physics node;

generating exclusive and non-exclusive contributions to partial differential equations using operations represented by exclusive and non-exclusive child nodes to one or both of the first materials node or the physics node, the exclusive and non-exclusive child nodes representing modeling operations to generate contributions to equations associated with one or more geometric entities, the exclusive child nodes overriding other nodes and representing contributions that do not coexist with contributions from other nodes on one or more of the geometric entities, the non-exclusive child nodes representing contributions that coexist with other contributions from other non-exclusive nodes; and

generating, via the one or more processing units, a solution for the multiphysics model of the combined physical systems, the solution being based on partial differential equations for one or more study steps represented in one or more study child nodes to a study parent node, the study steps corresponding to the assembled physics quantities and boundary conditions,

wherein the geometry nodes, materials nodes, physics node, and study nodes are graphically represented in a display associated with the multiphysics modeling system as logically associated branches of a model tree for the multiphysics model.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the acts of generating a geometric representation, assembling physical properties, assembling physics quantities and boundary conditions, and generating a solution are executed sequentially.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising labeling the exclusive and non-exclusive child nodes with dynamic symbols distinguishing the exclusive child nodes from the non-exclusive child nodes and distinguishing the exclusive and non-exclusive child nodes from other nodes in the model tree.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising in response to selecting a node, displaying an identifying setting of a geometric entity associated with the selected node and further displaying information about exclusive or non-exclusive child nodes related to the selected node.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying the solution on a user interface, wherein the solution is configured to be displayed in a 2-D graphical form.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying the solution on a user interface, wherein the solution is configured to be displayed in a 3-D graphical form.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying the solution on a user interface, wherein the solution is configured to be displayed in a tabular form.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the geometry nodes, the materials nodes, the physics node, and the study nodes are each selectable via a user interface and include fields for storing physical quantities and operations for modeling the combined physical systems.

15. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions executable on one or more physical processors associated with a multiphysics modeling system, the instructions comprising the acts of:

generating a geometric representation of combined physical systems, the geometric representation being at least partially based on data received via a first geometry node and one or more secondary geometry nodes, the one or more secondary geometry nodes being geometry child nodes to the first geometry node such that the first geometry node is a geometry parent node to the geometry child nodes, the geometry child nodes representing geometry operations corresponding to the combined physical systems;

assembling physical properties for the geometric representation of the combined physical systems, the physical properties being at least partially based on data received via a first materials node and one or more secondary materials nodes, the one or more secondary materials nodes being materials child nodes to the first materials node such that the first materials node is a materials parent node to the materials child nodes, the materials child nodes representing operations for evaluating material properties;

assembling physics quantities and boundary conditions for one or both of the geometric representation and the physical properties of the combined physical systems, the assembling of the physics quantities and boundary conditions being at least partially based on user-selected physics options received via a physics node;

generating exclusive and non-exclusive contributions to partial differential equations using operations represented by exclusive and non-exclusive child nodes to one or both of the first materials node or the physics node, the exclusive and non-exclusive child nodes representing modeling operations to generate contributions to equations associated with one or more geometric entities, the exclusive child nodes overriding other nodes and representing contributions that do not coexist with contributions from other nodes on one or more of the geometric entities, the non-exclusive child nodes representing contributions that coexist with other contributions from other non-exclusive nodes;

generating a solution for the multiphysics model of the combined physical systems, the solution being based on partial differential equations for one or more study steps represented in one or more study child nodes to a study parent node, the study steps associated with the assembled physics quantities and boundary conditions, wherein the geometry nodes, materials nodes, physics node, and study nodes are logically associated branches of a model tree for the multiphysics model; and

storing the solution in one or more memory devices, the solution and the logically associated branches of the model tree for the multiphysics model being configured for display on one or more user interfaces associated with the multiphysics modeling system.

16. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the acts of generating a geometric representation, assembling physical properties, assembling physics quantities and boundary conditions, and generating a solution are executed sequentially.

17. A method for generating model constituents associated with a multiphysics model representing combined physical systems having physical quantities represented in terms of partial differential equations, the method for generating the model constituents occurring in a multiphysics modeling system executed on one or more physical processors, the method comprising:

representing, in one or more graphical user interfaces, a plurality of model constituents as one or more user-selectable primary nodes of a model tree, the primary nodes being graphically represented as logically associated branches of the model tree;

representing, in the one or more graphical user interfaces, modeling operations that generate the model constituents as one or more user-selectable secondary nodes to the primary nodes;

representing, in the one or more graphical user interfaces, physical quantities associated with the model constituents via at least one of the user-selectable primary nodes of the model tree;

generating exclusive and non-exclusive contributions to partial differential equations using operations represented by exclusive and non-exclusive secondary nodes of the model tree, the exclusive and non-exclusive secondary nodes representing modeling operations to generate contributions to equations associated with one or more geometric entities, the exclusive secondary nodes overriding other nodes and representing contributions that do not coexist with contributions from other nodes on one or more of the geometric entities, the non-exclusive secondary nodes representing contributions that coexist with other contributions from other non-exclusive nodes; and

generating, via at least one of the one or more physical processors, contributions to the partial differential equations for one or more of the physical quantities in the multiphysics modeling system by implementing one or more of the modeling operations represented as at least one of the user-selectable secondary nodes to the at least one of the user-selectable primary nodes.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the multiphysics model includes a geometrical domain, the partial differential equations being generated only if attributable to the geometrical domain.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

representing, in at least one of the one or more graphical user interfaces, combined physical systems as a plurality of model nodes in the model tree; and

generating, via at least one of the one or more processors, equations operable to couple the plurality of model nodes by implementing modeling operations represented as secondary nodes to the model nodes.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein contributions to the partial differential equations are generated for each of the model nodes, the partial differential equations being solved simultaneously by the multiphysics modeling system.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising labeling the exclusive and non-exclusive secondary nodes with dynamic symbols distinguishing the exclusive secondary nodes from the non-exclusive secondary nodes and distinguishing the exclusive and non-exclusive secondary nodes from other nodes in the model tree.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising in response to receiving a user-selection of a primary node or secondary node, displaying an identifying setting of a geometric entity associated with the user-selected node and further displaying information about exclusive or non-exclusive secondary nodes related to the user-selected node.