The Power of Virtual Experiments

In early 2020, the world seemed to move to a virtual space nearly overnight: Everything from classroom lectures and industry conferences to birthday parties and holiday celebrations was suddenly held via video chat. Although this came as a big adjustment for many, scientists, researchers, and engineers have been successfully conducting virtual experiments and prototypes using simulation software long before COVID-19 was a household term.

The engineers featured in this year’s edition of COMSOL News are harnessing the power of virtual experiments and numerical modeling to develop new processes, devices, and techniques. In this issue, you will meet acoustics engineers who teamed up with a video game developer to make a virtual reality headset that sounds as real as it feels.

You will get a look at a simulation app that can be used to predict the outcome of an additive manufacturing process for a rocket engine component — right on the manufacturing room floor. You will read about researchers who developed a new way to model semisolid flow batteries as well as an environmentally friendly anode-baking process. You will also see how designers developed an efficient and reliable way to film and broadcast live sporting events and optimized a testing chamber for highspeed communications systems.