Benchmarking multiphysics software for mantle convection
Date
2021-09
Authors
Trim, Sean
Butler, Samuel
Spiteri, Raymond
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Elsevier
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Article
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Abstract
Numerical simulations are a highly valuable tool for improving our understanding of mantle dynamics. COMSOL Multiphysics® is a commercial software suite designed to numerically model experiments featuring multiple branches of physics. This modeling approach applies to mantle convection, which can be viewed as a combination of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics. COMSOL® is of interest to the geoscience community due to its ease of use compared to other available codes, and it has been used in previous mantle convection studies. However, COMSOL® has not been extensively benchmarked for mantle convection. In this study, we confirm the accuracy of COMSOL® against several established benchmarks pertaining to a variety mantle convection features and geometries. Overall, we find reasonable agreement between the results from COMSOL® and reported benchmark data. This study may also serve the geoscience community as a guide for using COMSOL® to model mantle convection.
Description
Keywords
COMSOL Multiphysics® Mantle convection Benchmark Finite elements
Citation
Trim et al. (2021), Benchmarking multiphysics software for mantle convection , Computers and Geosciences, 154, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2021.104797
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Citation
Trim et al. (2021), Benchmarking multiphysics software for mantle convection , Computers and Geosciences, 154, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2021.104797
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2021.104797