Technical Papers and Presentations

This paper presents a hybrid finite element – finite volume algorithm for solving multi-scale fluid-structure interaction during transient operation of a hydraulic rod seal. The elasto-hydrodynamic model consists of several micro-scale and macro-scale analyses types, all incorporated in a single hybrid iterative computational framework to solve these highly coupled nonlinear multiphysics equations simultaneously.

Finite element calculations using COMSOL’s PDE and Structural Mechanics Modules are coupled with finite volume calculations in MATLAB to form a hybrid MATLAB based framework. The hybrid method facilitates an online calculation of micro-scale deformations necessary to model the transient seal response.