COMSOL 2025 Highlights Real-World Multiphysics Applications

In the real world, nothing works in isolation.

A motor serves as a useful example: As it generates heat, it also vibrates and operates within an electromagnetic field. Understanding its true performance means looking at how these different effects (thermal, structural, acoustic, fluid and electromagnetic) interact and influence one another. This interplay is exactly what multiphysics simulation brings to the engineer’s toolkit, and it was a central theme at this year’s COMSOL Conference in Boston. (Oct. 8-10).

The modeling and simulation software conference brought together engineers, simulation experts and industry leaders to exchange ideas and learn new modeling techniques through keynotes, invited talks, minicourses and interactive poster presentations.

Good Simulations Start with Good Material Properties

Among the featured presenters was Veryst Engineering, which has expertise ranging from fluid mechanics to heat transfer and electromagnetics across industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemical manufacturing and soft robotics.

In his keynote, “Driving Innovation with Multiphysics Simulation,” Matt Hancock, Ph.D., principal at Veryst Engineering, highlighted how his company combines advanced simulation tools with deep subject-matter expertise to tackle complex engineering problems.

One message Hancock emphasized in his keynote is that “good simulations require good properties.” He explained that when developing solid mechanics simulations, accuracy starts with input data. Material properties listed on datasheets often fail to capture real-world behavior, leading to non-predictive results. To address this, he said, Veryst Engineering, a COMSOL certified consultant, conducts extensive in-house mechanical testing to characterize materials under relevant conditions.

The Veryst Engineering team then selects and calibrates the appropriate material models before validating them through simulation. As Hancock put it, simulation and testing teams work hand-in-hand to provide reliable material data that makes simulation results trustworthy and actionable.

Another takeaway from Hancock’s keynote is the versatility of COMSOL in supporting a range of applications. He discussed how Veryst Engineering used COMSOL to demonstrate the credibility of intellectual property, with some simulation results incorporated directly into U.S. patents.

In another example, Veryst Engineering used the software in a novel application with 3D Bio Labs. “This [application] was published last year in PNAS about using COMSOL to make a fractal geometry that allows us to script an algorithm and then use Comsol as our CAD modeling tool to then spit out a geometry that’s repeatable and parameterized,” Hancock explained. “Once the geometry is built, simulations within COMSOL allow engineers to optimize the design before physical fabrication.”

Highlights of the Poster Presentations

During a sit-down interview with Machine Design, Hancock and his colleague, Mike Kuron, Ph.D., also a principal at Veryst Engineering, discussed their involvement in the event’s poster presentations.

One area of focus, said Kuron, is wireless charging, a technology relevant to applications ranging from consumer electronics to electric vehicles. “COMSOL enables engineers to optimize these systems for both efficiency and rapid power transfer, guiding design and innovation.”

Another area is the electrification of chemical processes, where electromagnetic energy is used to provide process heat for reactions, such as steam methane reforming for hydrogen production. This is where COMSOL’s multiphysics capabilities can allow “the coupling of electromagnetics, heat transfer, fluid flow and chemical reactions to both design and optimize really complicated multi physics systems,” explained Kuron.

Magnetized Target Fusion: A Case History

One of Veryst Engineering’s clients, General Fusion, is developing a magnetized target fusion (MTF) machine with the goal of achieving scientific break-even. Achieving MTF by injecting magnetized plasma into a cavity and then compressing it extremely quickly using a rotationally stabilized liquid metal liner is a complex engineering challenge.

In 2023, the General Fusion team began building a large-scale demonstration machine known as Lawson Machine 26 (LM26). The machine uses a solid lithium liner compressed by electromagnetic forces to test and refine the process before moving to a full commercial plant with a liquid metal liner. LM26 is a critical launch point in General Fusion’s pursuit of producing practical, fusion-powered electricity.

To support this effort, Veryst Engineering contributed its material testing expertise to characterize solid lithium at the temperatures and strain rates relevant to General Fusion’s machine, explained Kuron.

Employing the COMSOL software, the engineers were able to analyze different LM23 design variations at once. To validate their models, 40 lithium liners were compressed electromagnetically.

The engineers could then test their approach on a small-scale prototype of the compression system. Test results were integrated into the model to simulate the compression of the lithium liner. Kuron explained that the model helps engineers design the compression cycle and physical components, as well as enable engineers to evaluate how component choices influence compression timescales and overall system performance.

COMSOL reported that modeling and simulation allowed General Fusion to modify the power supply impedance, predict the impact of design variations on system performance, and enhance compression efficiency.

The project with General Fusion is unique to their design and process, pointed out Kuron.

Still, he views the work as routine for Veryst Engineering. “We help clients to get the most out of complex materials and complex simulations to drive engineering insight, and ultimately improve product designs or drive innovation,” he said.