Unified Model Setup and Solution

Specify physical parameters of the problem as properties of an femodel object

To set up and solve a problem using unified workflow, follow these steps:

Create an femodel container while specifying the analysis type and the geometry for a model. You also can specify or change the analysis type and geometry properties of femodel later.
Mesh the geometry.
Specify physical parameters of the problem using familiar domain-specific terms.
Solve the problem to obtain results at nodal locations.

You also can approximate dynamic characteristics of a model for structural or thermal analysis by using reduced-order modeling (ROM).

For 3-D geometries which are symmetrical about an axis of rotation, you can speed up computations by simplifying a 3-D geometry to a 2-D geometry and setting the PlanarType property of femodel to "axisymmetric". The axis of rotation is the vertical axis, x = 0. The x–axis represents the radial component, and the y–axis represents the axial component.

Functions

`generateMesh`	Create triangular or tetrahedral mesh
`solve`	Solve structural analysis, heat transfer, or electromagnetic analysis problem
`triangulation`	Create `triangulation` object from `fegeometry` (Since R2023b)
`setupRadiation`	Specify radiation parameters for surface-to-surface heat transfer (Since R2023b)
`assembleFEMatrices`	Assemble finite element matrices
`reduce`	Reduce structural or thermal model

Objects

expand all

Model, Geometry, and Materials

`femodel`	Finite element analysis model object (Since R2023a)
`fegeometry`	Geometry object for finite element analysis (Since R2023a)
`materialProperties`	Material properties for structural, thermal, and electromagnetic analysis (Since R2023a)

Boundary Conditions

`edgeBC`	Boundary conditions on geometry edge (Since R2023a)
`faceBC`	Boundary conditions on geometry face (Since R2023a)
`vertexBC`	Boundary conditions on geometry vertex (Since R2023a)
`farFieldBC`	Absorbing boundary condition for harmonic electromagnetic analysis (Since R2023a)

Loads

`cellLoad`	Load on geometry cell (Since R2023a)
`faceLoad`	Load on geometry face (Since R2023a)
`edgeLoad`	Load on geometry edge (Since R2023a)
`vertexLoad`	Load on geometry vertex (Since R2023a)
`surfaceToSurfaceSettings`	Settings for modeling thermal radiation between surfaces (Since R2023b)

Initial Conditions and Initial Guesses

`cellIC`	Initial conditions on geometry cell (Since R2023a)
`faceIC`	Initial conditions on geometry face (Since R2023a)
`edgeIC`	Initial conditions on geometry edge (Since R2023a)
`vertexIC`	Initial conditions on geometry vertex (Since R2023a)

Reduced-Order Models

`romInterface`	Reduced-order model (ROM) interface (Since R2024a)
`ReducedStructuralModel`	Reduced-order structural model results
`ReducedThermalModel`	Reduced-order thermal model (Since R2022a)

Properties

PDESolverOptions Properties

Algorithm options for solvers

Topics

Migration from Domain-Specific to Unified Workflow
Migrate existing code for structural, thermal, and electromagnetic problems to a unified workflow.
Nonconstant Parameters of Finite Element Model
Specify nonconstant parameters of a finite element model by using a function handle.
Rectangular, Triangular, Trapezoidal, and Harmonic Loads
Use helper functions to model harmonic and step loads for a finite element model.
Reduced-Order Models for Faster Structural and Thermal Analysis
Approximate dynamic characteristics of a model for structural or thermal analysis by using reduced-order modeling (ROM).