COMSOL Multiphysics^® 6.3 Release Highlights

Nonisothermal Pipe Connection

The Pipe Connection coupling feature now supports nonisothermal flow in addition to isothermal flow when both the Heat Transfer in Solids and Fluids interface and the Heat Transfer in Pipes interface are included in the model.. This feature automatically couples the pipe domain and the volume domains for both fluid flow and heat transfer, which otherwise would require manual setup of coupling operators. In addition, this update allows for temperature variations in pipe flow simulations without requiring the Heat Transfer Module — only the Pipe Flow Module is needed.

Pressure distribution in the cooling channels in a battery energy storage system (BESS). The Pipe Flow and Heat Transfer in Pipes interfaces are used for the inlet and outlet pipes. The Nonisothermal Flow interface is used for fluid flow in the serpentine-shaped cooling channels. The Pipe Connection multiphysics coupling connects the fluid flow in the cooling channels with the flow in the pipes.

3D Visualization of Pipes

The pipe interfaces now support full 3D visualization, accurately representing pipe shapes and enabling detailed plotting of variables like stress and temperature variation across the pipe walls using the Pipe dataset. Several new plot types have been added to the results templates, allowing users to visualize geometry, stress, temperature, and pressure directly in 3D pipe models. The following tutorial models showcase the use of this new dataset:

• heat_exchanger_plate
• pipeline_insulation
• cooling_pipeline_stress

Von Mises stress and pressure distribution in a pipe.