As industries worldwide accelerate electrification efforts, engineers face unprecedented prototyping challenges where laboratory models frequently fail under real-world conditions. The complex interplay between electromagnetic effects, thermal dynamics, and structural mechanics requires sophisticated simulation approaches that can predict performance across multiple physical domains simultaneously. This emerging capability represents a transformative shift in how we develop everything from electric vehicles to grid-scale energy storage systems, with multiphysics simulation advances becoming increasingly critical to successful electrification projects.
According to Bjorn Sjodin, senior vice president of product management at COMSOL, the fundamental challenge lies in managing interconnected physical phenomena. “In electrification, at its core, you have this combination of electromagnetic effects, heat transfer, and structural mechanics in a complicated interplay,” he explains. This complexity is particularly evident in large-scale infrastructure projects where European industrial initiatives increasingly depend on advanced simulation technologies to ensure reliability and safety.
Beyond Single-Physics Limitations
Traditional engineering simulations typically focused on individual physical phenomena—electromagnetic behavior, thermal characteristics, or structural integrity analyzed separately. Modern multiphysics platforms integrate these analyses, enabling engineers to understand how these domains interact in real operating conditions. Niloofar Kamyab, a chemical engineer and applications manager at COMSOL, emphasizes that simulation complements rather than replaces physical testing. “Sometimes, I think some people still see simulation as a fancy R&D thing because they see it as a replacement for experiments. But no, experiments still need to be done, though experiments can be done in a more optimized and effective way.”
The value of this integrated approach extends beyond traditional manufacturing sectors. As global economic strategies evolve, the ability to simulate complex systems becomes crucial for maintaining technological competitiveness across multiple industries.
Battery Innovation Through Multi-Scale Analysis
Battery development represents one of the most demanding applications for multiphysics simulation. Kamyab highlights the unique challenges: “I think when it comes to batteries, there is another attraction when it comes to simulation. It’s multi-scale—how batteries can be studied across different scales. You can get in-depth analysis that, if not very hard, I would say is impossible to do experimentally.”
This capability proves particularly valuable for thermal management, where predicting and preventing thermal runaway—a chain reaction of overheating that can lead to battery fires—requires understanding behavior at both cell and pack levels. “Most of the people who do simulations of battery packs, thermal management is one of their primary concerns,” Kamyab notes. “You do this simulation so you know how to avoid it. You recreate a cell that is malfunctioning.”
The international dimension of this technological progress is significant, with global cooperation frameworks increasingly recognizing the importance of advanced simulation capabilities for sustainable development.
Real-World Applications: From Wireless Charging to Electric Motors
Wireless charging systems present unique thermal challenges that multiphysics simulation effectively addresses. Nirmal Paudel, a lead engineer at Veryst Engineering, explains: “At higher power levels, localized heating of the coil changes its conductivity.” This thermal variation can cascade through the entire system, affecting circuit performance and surrounding components.
Electric motor development similarly benefits from integrated simulation approaches. According to electrical engineer and COMSOL senior application engineer Vignesh Gurusamy, “The recent surge in electrification across diverse applications demands a more holistic approach as it enables the development of new optimal designs.”
Gurusamy identifies thermal management as a primary frontier in electric motor advancement: “A primary frontier in electric motor development is pushing power density and efficiency to new heights, with thermal management emerging as a key challenge. Multiphysics models that couple electromagnetic and thermal simulations incorporate temperature-dependent behavior in stator windings and magnetic materials.”
The infrastructure supporting these advances continues to expand, as evidenced by major semiconductor investments that provide the computational power needed for complex simulations.
Transportation Transformation: Beyond Passenger Vehicles
Commercial transportation presents particularly complex electrification challenges. “For trucks, people are investigating, Should we use batteries? Should we use fuel cells?” Sjodin says. “Fuel cells are very multiphysics friendly—fluid flow, heat transfer, chemical reactions, and electrochemical reactions.”
The grid itself represents another critical application area. “The grid is designed for a continuous supply of power,” Sjodin observes. “So when you have power sources [like wind and solar] shutting off and on all the time, you have completely new problems.” Multiphysics simulation helps engineers design systems that can manage these intermittent renewable sources while maintaining grid stability.
Innovative Battery Architectures: Blending Chemeries for Optimal Performance
Berlin-based automotive engineering company IAV demonstrates how multiphysics simulation enables groundbreaking battery designs. The company is developing powertrain systems that integrate multiple battery formats and chemistries within single packs. “Sodium ion cannot give you the energy that lithium ion can give,” Kamyab explains. “So they came up with a blend of chemistries, to get the benefits of each, and then designed a thermal management that matches all the chemistries.”
Jakob Hilgert, a technical consultant at IAV, recently described a dual-chemistry battery pack combining sodium-ion cells with more expensive lithium solid-state batteries. “If we have some cells that can operate at high temperatures and some cells that can operate at low temperatures, it is beneficial to take the exhaust heat of the higher-running cells to heat up the lower-running cells, and vice versa,” Hilgert said. “That’s why we came up with a cooling system that shifts the energy from cells that want to be in a cooler state to cells that want to be in a hotter state.”
This type of innovation reflects broader trends in international regulatory cooperation that supports advanced technological development.
The Computational Future: Scaling Simulation Capabilities
According to Sjodin, algorithmic and hardware improvements are multiplying together to enable increasingly sophisticated simulations. “That’s the future of multiphysics simulation. It will allow you to simulate larger and larger, more realistic systems.”
Gurusamy points to specific technological enablers: “GPU accelerators and surrogate models allow for bigger jumps in electric motor capabilities and efficiencies.” Even seemingly simple components like motor windings benefit from optimization through multiphysics analysis.
In wireless charging, Paudel notes that simulation is enabling architectural innovations: “Traditional design cycles tweak coil geometry. Today, integrated multiphysics platforms enable exploration of new charging architectures,” including flexible charging textiles and smart surfaces that adapt in real-time.
Unlocking Future Technologies
As battery technology continues advancing toward higher power densities and lower costs, multiphysics simulation plays a crucial role in enabling applications beyond current markets. “The reason that many ideas that we had 30 years ago are becoming a reality is now we have the batteries to power them,” Kamyab observes. “That was the bottleneck for many years. And as we continue to push battery technology forward, who knows what new technologies and applications we’re making possible next.”
From electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to grid-scale energy storage, the convergence of multiphysics simulation with electrification represents one of engineering’s most promising frontiers—transforming how we design, test, and deploy the energy systems of tomorrow.
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