Model Geometry
I pared down the number of parameters in the model to only the necessary ones. These are the ones that remain:
TM_radius: Radius of the test mass
TM_width: Width of the test mass
TM_flats: length of TM flats
ear_length: length of the ear
horn_spacing: length of the ear
horn_gap: gap between the top of the horn and the TM on the near side
d_val: distance from the CM to the bend point
horn_BP: distance from the horn to the bend point
ear_height_tot_nominal: nominal total height of the ear and horn for the unscaled (aLIGO) design (this name made more sense in a previous version of the model)
fiber_stock_length: length of the fiber's stock
fiber_neck_length: length of the fiber's neck
fiber_thick_length: length of the thick section of the fiber
fiber_main_length: length of the main section of fiber (the thinnest part)
fiber_taper_length: length of the tapering section of fiber
fiber_stock_radius: radius of the fiber stock
fiber_thick_radius: radius of the thick section of fiber
fiber_main_radius: radius of the main section of fiber
F_load: force of the boundary load used for the excitation in the frequency domain study
ear_scale_height: scale the height of the ear
ear_scale_length: scale the length of the ear
ear_scale_width: scale the width of the ear
Materials
For the material of the entire test mass and suspension, I used the fused silica that is specified as [solid,NIST SRM 739 - Type I]. I wasn't sure the difference between the types of silica, but this one said SRM so I thought it might have been defined on my distribution of COMSOL by a LIGO person. A quick google search showed me that person may have been rana?? https://labcit.ligo.caltech.edu/~rana/research/etm.html
Physics
Rana suggests that for the purpose of this study, it is not necessary to actually have COMSOL handle gravity as a restoring force... I'm not sure if I understand why this is yet? It seems that if we are interested in the relative strain energy in different parts of the wire compared to other parts of the system, it is important that the wire be under tension. If we have no gravity, the wire is effectively not under tension.
Mesh
I have not yet messed with the meshing for these models. Obviously the points with more flexture and smaller parts (like at the horns of the ears, the tapering parts of the fibers, etc) will require a finer mesh.
Study
I need to incorporate the advice on how to build this study described in the link above. The following might also be useful, though I haven't looked through them yet:
https://www.comsol.com/model/dynamics-of-double-pendulum-14021
https://www.comsol.se/forum/thread/4843/pendulum-response?last=2010-04-27T01:48:26Z |