createpde

Create a PDE model

Syntax

model = createpde(N)

model = createpde

Description

model = createpde(N) returns a PDE model object for a system of N equations. A complete PDE model object contains a description of the problem you want to solve, including the geometry, mesh, and boundary conditions.

model = createpde returns a PDE model object for one equation (a scalar PDE). This syntax is equivalent to model = createpde(1) and model = createpde().

Examples

Create General PDE Model

Create a model for a general linear or nonlinear single (scalar) PDE.

model = createpde

model = 
  PDEModel with properties:

           PDESystemSize: 1
         IsTimeDependent: 0
                Geometry: []
    EquationCoefficients: []
      BoundaryConditions: []
       InitialConditions: []
                    Mesh: []
           SolverOptions: [1×1 pde.PDESolverOptions]

Create a PDE model for a system of three equations.

model = createpde(3)

model = 
  PDEModel with properties:

           PDESystemSize: 3
         IsTimeDependent: 0
                Geometry: []
    EquationCoefficients: []
      BoundaryConditions: []
       InitialConditions: []
                    Mesh: []
           SolverOptions: [1×1 pde.PDESolverOptions]

Input Arguments

N — Number of equations

1 (default) | positive integer

Number of equations, specified as a positive integer. You do not need to specify N for a model where N = 1.

Example: model = createpde

Example: model = createpde(3);

Data Types: double

Output Arguments

model — PDE model

PDEModel object

PDE model, returned as a PDEModel object.

Example: model = createpde(2)

Version History

Introduced in R2015a

R2025a: To be removed: structural, thermal, and electromagnetic analysis models

createpde will no longer create the StructuralModel, ThermalModel, and ElectromagneticModel objects. These objects will be removed. Use femodel to create a unified finite element model instead.

For example, you can create a model for solving a thermal transient problem as follows.

model = femodel(AnalysisType="thermalTransient")

The unified finite element model workflow defines the type of a problem and all of its parameters as the properties of an femodel object. This object enables you to specify physical parameters for structural, thermal, and electromagnetic types of analyses. The solver in the unified workflow uses only the parameters (properties) appropriate for the current analysis type while ignoring all other properties. If you switch the analysis type by setting the AnalysisType property of the model, the solver uses the appropriate set of properties corresponding to the new analysis type.

For more help migrating your existing code that uses StructuralModel, ThermalModel, or ElectromagneticModel to the unified finite element workflow, see Migration from Domain-Specific to Unified Workflow.

R2021a: Electromagnetic analysis

createpde now can create a model for electromagnetic analysis.

R2020a: Axisymmetric analysis

createpde now can create a model for axisymmetric thermal and structural analyses. Axisymmetric analysis simplifies 3-D structural and thermal problems to 2-D using their symmetry around the axis of rotation.

R2017b: Structural analysis

createpde now can create a model for structural analysis.

R2017a: Thermal analysis

createpde now can create a model for thermal analysis.