Coming from COMSOL

Elmer Studio follows COMSOL’s workflow, layout and names on purpose. If you know COMSOL, you already know most of it. This page lists what corresponds to what, and the few places where it differs.

Elmer Studio is independent of COMSOL AB. It does not read or write .mph files.

Concept map

COMSOL Elmer Studio Elmer behind it

COMSOL	Elmer Studio	Elmer behind it
Model Builder, Settings, Graphics, Messages/Progress/Log/Table	The same windows, dockable; Widescreen and Regular Screen layouts, Home Reset Desktop	—
Ribbon tabs, Quick Access Toolbar, File menu	The same tabs and groups; groups collapse into menus in a narrow window; Minimize the Ribbon; a contextual plot group tab	—
Recovery Files window after a crash	The same, for unsaved models (not mid-solve continuation)	—
Paste Selection, Up/Down through hidden entities, red/green hover	The same	—
Model Wizard, Blank Model, Application Libraries	The same; 9 example models	—
`.mph` file	`.esm` file (zip of the model and its solutions)	—
Parameters, Variables, Analytic/Interpolation functions	The same, with units in brackets	MATC expressions, tables
Component couplings (Average, Integration, Maximum, Minimum)	The same, used in results	—
Geometry sequence, Work Plane, Extrude/Revolve, Booleans, transforms, Fillet/Chamfer, Import, Form Union	The same	gmsh / OpenCASCADE
Named selections (Box)	Box Selection	—
Materials with Material Contents	The same; 20 library materials	`Material` sections
Physics interfaces and features, default features on exterior boundaries	The same	Elmer solver modules
Multiphysics couplings	Electromagnetic Heating, Thermal Expansion, Nonisothermal Flow	Coupled solvers
Physics-controlled mesh, Size, Free Tetrahedral/Triangular/Quad, Mapped, Distribution	The same, including growth rate and narrow regions	gmsh → Elmer mesh
Stationary, Time Dependent, Eigenfrequency, Frequency Domain	The same	Steady, Transient (BDF), Eigen (ARPACK), Scanning
Parametric Sweep (specified / all combinations)	The same	One Elmer run per value
Solver Configurations	Solver Configurations with one Solver node per Elmer solver	Linear/nonlinear solver keywords
Datasets, plot groups, plots, derived values, tables, export	The same names	VTU results
Method/Java shell	Developer Run Python Script	—
"Show equation view"	Equation section on each feature; Study Show Elmer Input File	`.sif`

Model Builder, Settings, Graphics, Messages/Progress/Log/Table

The same windows, dockable; Widescreen and Regular Screen layouts, Home Reset Desktop

—

Ribbon tabs, Quick Access Toolbar, File menu

The same tabs and groups; groups collapse into menus in a narrow window; Minimize the Ribbon; a contextual plot group tab

—

Recovery Files window after a crash

The same, for unsaved models (not mid-solve continuation)

—

Paste Selection, Up/Down through hidden entities, red/green hover

The same

—

Model Wizard, Blank Model, Application Libraries

The same; 9 example models

—

.mph file

.esm file (zip of the model and its solutions)

—

Parameters, Variables, Analytic/Interpolation functions

The same, with units in brackets

MATC expressions, tables

Component couplings (Average, Integration, Maximum, Minimum)

The same, used in results

—

Geometry sequence, Work Plane, Extrude/Revolve, Booleans, transforms, Fillet/Chamfer, Import, Form Union

The same

gmsh / OpenCASCADE

Named selections (Box)

Box Selection

—

Materials with Material Contents

The same; 20 library materials

Material sections

Physics interfaces and features, default features on exterior boundaries

The same

Elmer solver modules

Multiphysics couplings

Electromagnetic Heating, Thermal Expansion, Nonisothermal Flow

Coupled solvers

Physics-controlled mesh, Size, Free Tetrahedral/Triangular/Quad, Mapped, Distribution

The same, including growth rate and narrow regions

gmsh → Elmer mesh

Stationary, Time Dependent, Eigenfrequency, Frequency Domain

The same

Steady, Transient (BDF), Eigen (ARPACK), Scanning

Parametric Sweep (specified / all combinations)

The same

One Elmer run per value

Solver Configurations

Solver Configurations with one Solver node per Elmer solver

Linear/nonlinear solver keywords

Datasets, plot groups, plots, derived values, tables, export

The same names

VTU results

Method/Java shell

Developer Run Python Script

—

"Show equation view"

Equation section on each feature; Study Show Elmer Input File

.sif

Variable names

Result variables use COMSOL’s scoped names where possible: T, ht.tfluxMag, solid.mises, solid.disp, es.normE, ec.normJ, mf.normB, spf.U, acpr.p_t, acpr.Lp, cd.phil, cd.iloc, cd.es1.Itot. The full list is in Result variables.

Differences to know

Topic	In Elmer Studio
Materials	Library values are constants at 20 °C. Use expressions or Interpolation functions for temperature dependence.
Coupling operators	Evaluated on results. They can’t appear inside the equations.
Identity pairs	Continuity only (no contact, thin layers or other pair conditions); for Heat Transfer, Electrostatics, Electric Currents and the Coefficient Form PDE.
Several components	Each solves on its own mesh; one component can use another’s coupling operators (one way), not its fields.
Boundary-layer meshes	Not exposed.
Adaptive mesh refinement	Not available.
Magnetic fields	2D and 2D axisymmetric only; no 3D A–V formulation.
Turbulence, contact, structural transient and frequency response	Not available yet.
Acoustic BEM and PMLs	Open domains use Spherical Wave Radiation, and the field beyond the mesh comes from the Exterior Field Calculation.
Probes and animations	Not available yet.
Application Builder, LiveLink	Not available.
Integrals over quadratic elements	Use linearized cells (about 0.1 % on smooth fields), except boundary fluxes from reaction loads (electrode currents, heat flows), which are exact.

Topic

In Elmer Studio

Materials

Library values are constants at 20 °C. Use expressions or Interpolation functions for temperature dependence.

Coupling operators

Evaluated on results. They can’t appear inside the equations.

Identity pairs

Continuity only (no contact, thin layers or other pair conditions); for Heat Transfer, Electrostatics, Electric Currents and the Coefficient Form PDE.

Several components

Each solves on its own mesh; one component can use another’s coupling operators (one way), not its fields.

Boundary-layer meshes

Not exposed.

Adaptive mesh refinement

Not available.

Magnetic fields

2D and 2D axisymmetric only; no 3D A–V formulation.

Turbulence, contact, structural transient and frequency response

Not available yet.

Acoustic BEM and PMLs

Open domains use Spherical Wave Radiation, and the field beyond the mesh comes from the Exterior Field Calculation.

Probes and animations

Not available yet.

Application Builder, LiveLink

Not available.

Integrals over quadratic elements

Use linearized cells (about 0.1 % on smooth fields), except boundary fluxes from reaction loads (electrode currents, heat flows), which are exact.

The complete list is on Known limitations.

Habits that carry over

Later features override earlier ones on shared boundaries.
F7 / F8 build, Ctrl+= computes, F2 renames, F3/F4 disable and enable, F1 opens the help of the selected node.
Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right/Up/Down move between windows and Settings sections; Ctrl+Space completes expressions; Ctrl+A/Ctrl+D select all and clear in the Graphics window.
Esc in a Settings field puts back the applied value. COMSOL’s manual doesn’t describe this key, so this is Elmer Studio’s own choice.
Entity numbers follow position, so numbers in COMSOL instructions usually match.
Parameters with units, sweeps, couplings and Global Evaluations work as you expect.