Multiphysics simulation: Difference between revisions

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== Definition ==

There are multiple definitions for multiphysics. In a broad sense, multiphysics refers to simulations that involve multiple physical models or multiple simultaneous physical phenomena. The inclusion of “multiple physical models” makes this definition a very broad and general concept, but this definition is a little bit self-contradictory as the implication of physical models may include that of physical phenomena.<ref name=":0" /> COMSOL defines multiphysics in a relatively narrow sense: multiphysics includes 1. coupled physical phenomena in [[computer simulation]] and 2. the study of multiple interacting physical properties. In another definition, a multiphysics system consists of more than one component governed by its own principle(s) for evolution or equilibrium, typically conservation or constitutive laws.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last=Krzhizhanovskaya|first=Valeria V.|title=Simulation of Multiphysics Multiscale Systems: Introduction to the ICCS'2007 Workshop|date=2007|work=Computational Science – ICCS 2007|pages=755–761|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-540-72584-8_100|isbn=9783540725831|last2=Sun|first2=Shuyu|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite arxiv|last=Groen|first=Derek|last2=Zasada|first2=Stefan J.|last3=Coveney|first3=Peter V.|date=2012-08-31|title=Survey of Multiscale and Multiphysics Applications and Communities|eprint=1208.6444|class=cs.OH}}</ref> This definition is very close to the previous one except for that it does not emphasize physical properties. In a more strict way, multiphysics can be defined as those processes including closely coupled interactions among separate continuum physics phenomena.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nafems.org/downloads/FENet.../St...2005/fenet_malta_may2005_mpa.pdf|title=NAFEMS downloads engineering analysis and simulation - FEA, Finite Element Analysis, CFD, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Simulation|last=www.duodesign.co.uk|website=nafems.org|access-date=2018-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819214305/https://www.nafems.org/downloads/FENet.../St...2005/fenet_malta_may2005_mpa.pdf|archive-date=2018-08-19|url-status=dead}}</ref> In this definition, two-way exchange of information between physical fields, which could involve implicit convergence within a time step is the essential feature. Based on the above definitions, multiphysics is defined as the coupled processes or systems involving more than one simultaneously occurring physical fields and also the studies of and knowledge about these processes and systems.<ref name=":0" />

== History and future ==

Multiphysics is neither a research concept far from daily life nor a recently developed theory or technique. In fact, we live in a multiphysics world. Natural and artificial systems are running with various types of physical phenomena at different spatial and temporal scales: from atoms to galaxies and from pico-seconds to centuries. A few representative examples in fundamental and applied sciences are loads and deformations on solids, complex flows, fluid-structure interactions, plasma and chemical processes, thermo-mechanical and electromagnetic systems.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Multiphysics has rapidly developed into a research and application area across many science and engineering disciplines. There is a clear trend that more and more challenging problems we are faced with involve physical processes that cannot be covered by a single traditional discipline. This trend requires us to extend our analysis capacity to solve more complicated and more multidisciplinary problems. Modern academic communities are confronted with problems of rapidly increasing complexity, which straddle across the traditional disciplinary boundaries between physics, chemistry, material science and biology. Multiphysics has also become a frontier in industrial practice. Simulation programs have been evolving into a tool in design, product development, and quality control. During these creation processes, engineers are now required to think in areas outside of their training, even with the assistance of the simulation tools. It is more and more necessary for the modern engineers to know and grasp the concept of what is known deep inside the engineering world as “multiphysics.” <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2015/03/multiphysics-brings-the-real-world-into-simulations/|title=Multiphysics brings the real world into simulations|date=2015-03-16|access-date=2018-08-19|language=en-US}}</ref> The auto industry gives out a good example. Traditionally, different groups of people focus on the structure, fluids, electromagnets and the other individual aspect separately. By contrast, the intersection of aspects, which may represent two physics topics and once was a gray area, can be the essential link in the life cycle of the product. As commented by,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thilmany|first=Jean|date=2010-02-01|title= Multiphysics: All at Once|journal= Mechanical Engineering|volume=132|issue=2|pages=39–41|doi=10.1115/1.2010-Feb-5|issn=0025-6501|doi-access=free}}</ref> “Design engineers are running more and more multiphysics simulations every day because they need to add reality into their models.”

== Types of multiphysics ==