A geometry question in Comsol (draw a semi-circle tangent to a line)

[yabi]

TL;DR Summary

How can draw a semi-circle tangent to a line in Comsol?

I am new to Comsol. I want to draw my model which is a Tesla valve. The geometry is little complicated and I don't know how to draw a semi-circle tangent to a line. Is it possible? I draw it in Solidworks and imported it into Comsol but it gives error and I think it is better to draw inside Comsol from scratch.

BTW the newest thread about Comsol in this forum dates back to 2015. Is Comsol outdated and has no usage these days? Why it is not among active topics?

 

[FEAnalyst]

There is a „Tangent” option in Comsol’s Geometry —> Operations toolbar for 2D drawings. Just keep in mind that this software has limited capabilities when it comes to modeling and it might be easier to create geometry in CAD software and the import it to Comsol (maybe you should use different format or change the way you model parts in SolidWorks).

Comsol is not outdated. In fact, recently new version was released. It’s just quite unpopular (mostly used by universities) because of it’s high price and focus on less commonly simulated phenomena such as optics and electromagnetics. Also, its more advanced solid mechanics capabilities (such as contact) are worse than those of Abaqus or Ansys.

 

[yabi]

There is a „Tangent” option in Comsol’s Geometry —> Operations toolbar for 2D drawings. Just keep in mind that this software has limited capabilities when it comes to modeling and it might be easier to create geometry in CAD software and the import it to Comsol (maybe you should use different format or change the way you model parts in SolidWorks).

Comsol is not outdated. In fact, recently new version was released. It’s just quite unpopular (mostly used by universities) because of it’s high price and focus on less commonly simulated phenomena such as optics and electromagnetics. Also, its more advanced solid mechanics capabilities (such as contact) are worse than those of Abaqus or Ansys.

Dear FEAnalyst
Thanks for your reply. Your last sentence means Comsol is not good for solid mechanics and Abaqus or Ansys is better?
Do you have any idea about advantage or disadvantage of Comsol for thermodynamics and Computational Fluid Dynamics projects?

 

[FEAnalyst]

It depends what you want to simulate but generally I wouldn't choose Comsol for solid mechanics problems other than very simple cases. Even SolidWorks Simulation can handle them better.
Comsol is also weak in terms of CFD capabilities - mainly because it uses FEM instead of FVM. For CFD there's no better choice than Ansys (Fluent or CFX). But for heat transfer you can uses Abaqus as well as Ansys and other, less advanced programs. Comsol is quite good in thermodynamics too.