milk_container_sbs.

book Page 1 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

Vibrations in Milk Containers

SOLVED WITH COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS 3.5a

COPYRIGHT 2008. All right reserved. No part of this documentation may be photocopied or reproduced in
any form without prior written consent from COMSOL AB. COMSOL, COMSOL Multiphysics, COMSOL Reaction Engineering Lab, and FEMLAB are registered trademarks of COMSOL AB. Other product or brand names
are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

milk_container_sbs.book Page 1 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

V i bra t i o ns i n M i l k C o nt a i n e rs
Introduction
This example illustrates a multiphysics application that involves a fluid-structure
interaction. It simulates a filled milk container on a conveyor belt that starts moving.
The methodology presented here defines two subproblems, one for the container walls
and another for the fluid. The two problems merge into one using special interface
conditions that impose continuous normal displacements and normal forces across the
interface boundary.
Plane stress (E2, , 2)

Fluid (E1, 1)

Asint

Model Definition
With all variables having a harmonic time dependence, you solve for only one complex
amplitude.
DOMAIN EQUATIONS

In the container walls, use Naviers equation for plane stress to find the displacements
u and v:

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 2 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

E2
E2

2
-------------------- ( u + vx ) = 0
2 u + --------------2- ( ux + vy ) x + 2
y
(
1
+ ) y
1

E2
E2

2
-------------------- ( u + vx ) = 0
2 v + --------------2- ( v y + u x ) y + 2
x
(
1
+ ) y
1

where 2 is density, E2 is the elasticity modulus (Youngs modulus), and is Poissons

ratio.
For the fluid assume irrotational flow. Thus you can give the displacements with the
gradient of a displacement potential G:
U = G x , V = Gy
and the equation for sound waves becomes
2

1 G + E 1 G = 0
where E1 is the elasticity modulus for the fluid, and 1 the fluid density.
INTERFACE CONDITIONS

At the interface, the normal displacements should be continuous, so

n E 1 G E 1 n u = 0
v
where n is the outward-pointing normal. Pressure in the gas, p, follows the
relationship
p = 1 G,
and force continuity across the interface gives
2

n + 1 Gn = 0
where n is the inward-pointing normal.

Modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics

This model uses an equation-based approach, where the modeling of both the Naviers
equation and the equation for the sound waves uses PDE modes for PDEs in
coefficient form. The Naviers equation is active in the wall only, and the equation for

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 3 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

the sound waves is active in the fluid domain only. For the coupling, you use the
equation system view to define the fluid-structure interaction at the boundaries
between the two domains.

Results
The solution shows the deformations that occur in the container. Figure 1 shows the
deformations (scaled) for a container filled with milk. A second analysis provides the
deformations for a container filled with gas (see Figure 2).

Figure 1: The deformation (exaggerated) of the container filled with milk.

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 4 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

Figure 2: The deformation (exaggerated) of the container filled with gas.

Model Library path:

COMSOL_Multiphysics/Multiphysics/milk_container

Modeling Using the Graphical User Interface

MODE L NAVIGATOR

1 In the Model Navigator, click the Multiphysics button.

2 Select the first application mode from the table below in the COMSOL
Multiphysics>PDE Modes section and rename it by typing the name in the Application
mode name edit field.
3 Define the dependent variables by typing the variable names in the table below in

the Dependent variables edit field.

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 5 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

4 Click the Add button.

5 Add the second application mode following the same procedure and then click OK.
APPLICATION MODE

APPLICATION
MODE NAME

DEPENDENT
VARIABLES

ELEMENT TYPE

PDE, coefficient
form

wall

u v

Lagrange - Quadratic

PDE, coefficient
form

fluid

Lagrange - Quadratic

OPTIONS AND SETTINGS

1 From the Options menu, choose Constants.

2 In the Constants dialog box, add the following constants for the material properties

and the angular frequency (the constant w):

NAME

EXPRESSION

E1

1e10

rho1

1e3

E2

1e8

rho2

1e3

nu

0.3

2*pi*10

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 6 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

3 Click OK.
GEOMETRY MODELING

1 Shift-click the Rectangle/Square button in the Draw toolbar.

2 In the Rectangle dialog box, specify a rectangle with a lower-left corner at

(0.001, 0.001), a width of 0.063, and a height of 0.163.

3 Click OK and then click the Zoom Extents button.
4 Draw another rectangle using the same method. This rectangles lower-left corner

is at (0, 0), the width is 0.065, and the height is 0.165.

5 Press Ctrl+A to select both objects and then click the Union button on the Draw

toolbar.
PHYSICS SETTINGS

Boundary Conditions
1 From the Multiphysics menu, select the wall application mode.
2 From the Physics menu, choose Boundary settings.
3 In the Boundary Settings dialog box, select the Interior boundaries check box.
4 Specify the boundary conditions from the table below. Start with Boundary 2. You

can the select the Select by group check box to set Neumann conditions on the
remaining boundaries in one step.
SETTINGS

BOUNDARIES 1,3-8

BOUNDARY 2

Type

Neumann

Dirichlet

h(1,1)

h(1,2)

h(2,1)

h(2,2)

r(1)

0.001

r(2)

5 Click OK.

You do not need to define boundary conditions for the fluid because the fluid domain
consists of interior boundaries only.

Subdomain Settings
1 From the Physics menu, choose Subdomain Settings.

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 7 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

2 In the Subdomain Settings dialog box, select Subdomain 2 from the Subdomain
selection list and then clear the Active in this domain check box to deactivate the fluid

domain.
3 Select Subdomain 1 and then click the c, a, and f tabs and enter the PDE coefficients

for the wall domain according to the following table:

COEFFICIENT

SUBDOMAIN 1

c(1,1)

E2/(1-nu^2) E2/2/(1+nu)

c(1,2)

0 E2/2/(1+nu) E2*nu/(1-nu^2) 0

c(2,1)

0 E2*nu/(1-nu^2) E2/2/(1+nu) 0

c(2,2)

E2/2/(1+nu) E2/(1-nu^2)

a(1,1)

-w^2*rho2

a(1,2)

a(2,1)

a(2,2)

-w^2*rho2

f(1)

f(2)

4 Click OK.
5 From the Multiphysics menu, select the fluid application mode.
6 From the Physics menu, choose Subdomain Settings.
7 In the Subdomain Settings dialog box, select Subdomain 1 in the Subdomain selection

list and then clear the Active in this domain check box to deactivate the wall domain.
8 Select Subdomain 2 and enter the PDE coefficients for the fluid domain according

to the following table:

COEFFICIENT

SUBDOMAIN 2

E1

-w^2*rho1

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 8 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

9 Click OK.

Boundary ConditionsEquation System

To get continuous normal forces and normal displacements on the interior boundaries,
use the Boundary Settings dialog box for the equation system.
1 On the Physics menu, point to Equation System and then click Boundary Settings.
2 Specify the following components for the q coefficient on Boundaries 47 that

separate the fluid and the wall:

COMPONENT

BOUNDARY 4

BOUNDARY 5

BOUNDARY 6

BOUNDARY 7

q(1,1)

q(1,2)

q(1,3)

w*rho1

-w*rho1

q(2,1)

q(2,2)

q(2,3)

w*rho1

-w*rho1

q(3,1)

E1

-E1

q(3,2)

E1

-E1

q(3,3)

3 Click OK.
MESH GENERATION

1 From the Mesh menu, choose Free Mesh Parameters.

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS

milk_container_sbs.book Page 9 Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:58 AM

2 Click the Custom mesh size button and type 1.7 in the Element growth rate edit field.
3 Click OK.
4 Click the Initialize Mesh button.
COMPUTING THE SOLUTION

For this model, use the stationary solver (the default solver). Click the Solve button to
solve the problem.
PO S T P RO C E S S I N G A N D V I S U A L I ZAT I O N

1 From the Postprocessing menu, choose Plot Parameters.

2 In the Plot type area on the General page, select the Deformed shape check box.
3 Click the Surface tab.
4 On the Surface Data tab, select Geometry and Mesh>y-coordinate from the Predefined
quantities list.
5 Click the Deform tab.
6 In the Deformation data area, select PDE, Coefficient Form (wall)>u, v from the
Predefined quantities list on the Subdomain Data tab to use the x- and

y-displacements for the deformed shape.

7 Click OK.
SECOND ANALYSISUSING A GAS-FILLED CONTAINER

To model a container filled with gas instead of milk, update the fluid parameters:
OPTIONS AND SETTINGS

Change the following constants in the Constants dialog box:

NAME

EXPRESSION

E1

1e5

rho1

COMPUTING THE SOLUTION

Solve the problem again with the new material properties for the fluid. You get a
similar plot of the solution from the second analysis.

VIBRATIONS IN MILK CONTAINERS