Thermoelectric cooling (Peltier device)

Electronic cooling utilizing the Seebeck effect and Peltier effect. Applied to sensor cooling and small constant temperature chambers.

We use spatial discretization by the Finite Element Method (FEM). We assemble the element stiffness matrix and construct the global stiffness equation.

We perform transformation to the weak form (variational form) and use formulation by the Galerkin method using test functions and shape functions. The choice of element type (low-order elements vs. higher-order elements, full integration vs. reduced integration) directly affects the trade-off between solution accuracy and computational cost.

Solve the simultaneous equations by direct methods (LU decomposition, Cholesky decomposition) or iterative methods (CG method, GMRES method). For large-scale problems, preconditioned iterative methods are effective.

Developed in 1970 by Swanson Analysis Systems Inc. (SASI). APDL (Ansys Parametric Design Language) based.

Current affiliation: Ansys Inc.

Founded in 1986 in Sweden. Started as FEMLAB with MATLAB integration, later renamed COMSOL. Strong in multiphysics.

Current affiliation: COMSOL AB

Developed by Fluent Inc. Acquired by Ansys in 2006. A general-purpose CFD solver based on unstructured grids.

Current affiliation: Ansys Inc.

When converting models between different solvers, attention must be paid to the correspondence of element types, compatibility of material models, and differences in the representation of loads and boundary conditions. Particularly, higher-order elements and special elements (cohesive elements, user-defined elements, etc.) often cannot be directly converted between solvers.