After completing a design study as you have done, you often want to use the results
in some other context. For instance, you may want to output an optimal geometry
in a dedicated CAD format. In fact, the broadly applicable nature of multiphysics
simulation brings with it the need for interaction with many other scientific
computing platforms. For this reason, COMSOL Multiphysics provides the capability
to read and write a wide array of file formats. The list below contains several formats
that are compatible with COMSOL. These formats are categorized according to the
associated type of software.
COMSOL
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| Model (.mph) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Model (.java) |
No |
Yes |
| Model (.class) |
Yes |
No |
| Model (.m)1 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Reaction Engineering Lab 3.5a Model (.rxn)2 |
Yes |
No |
| Geometry (.mphbin, .mphtxt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Mesh (.mphbin, .mphtxt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Material Library (.mph) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Interpolation Function (.txt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Variables (.txt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Parameters (.txt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Postprocessing Data (.txt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Color Table (.txt) |
Yes |
No |
| 1 |
Requires LiveLink™ for MATLAB® |
| 2 |
Requires Chemical Reaction Engineering Module |
MCAD
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| Autodesk AutoCAD® (.dwg, 3D only)1 |
Yes6 |
Yes6 |
| Autodesk Inventor® (.ipt, .iam)2 |
Yes |
Yes6 |
| Creo™ Parametric (.prt, .asm)3 |
Yes6 |
Yes6 |
| Pro/ENGINEER® (.prt, .asm)2 |
Yes |
Yes6 |
| SolidWorks® (.sldprt, .sldasm)2 |
Yes |
Yes6 |
| SpaceClaim® (.scdoc)4 |
Yes6 |
Yes6 |
| DXF(.dxf, 2D only) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Parasolid® (.x_t, xmt_txt, .x_b, .xmt_bin)2 |
Yes |
Yes |
| ACIS® (.sat, .sab)2 |
Yes |
No |
| STEP (.step)2 |
Yes |
No |
| IGES (.iges)2 |
Yes |
No |
| CATIA® V5 (.CATPart, .CATProduct)5 |
Yes |
No |
| VRML, v1 (.vrml, .vrl) |
Yes |
No |
| STL (.stl) |
Yes |
Yes |
| 1 |
Requires LiveLink™ for AutoCAD® |
| 2 |
Requires one of the LiveLink™ products for AutoCAD®, Creo™ Parametric, Inventor®,
Pro/ENGINEER®,
SolidWorks®, or SpaceClaim®; or the CAD Import Module
|
| 3 |
Requires LiveLink™ for Creo™ Parametric |
| 4 |
Requires LiveLink™ for SpaceClaim® |
| 5 |
Requires the CAD Import Module (or one of the LiveLink™ products for AutoCAD®, Creo™ Parametric, Inventor®, Pro/ENGINEER®, SolidWorks®, or SpaceClaim®) and the File Import for CATIA® V5 |
| 6 |
Via the LiveLink interface |
ECAD
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| NETEX-G (.asc)1 |
Yes |
No |
| ODB++(X) (.xml)1 |
Yes |
No |
| GDS II (.gdx)1 |
Yes |
No |
| SPICE (.cis)1 |
Yes |
No |
| 1 |
Requires one of AC/DC Module, RF Module, or MEMS Module |
Material Databases
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| NASA file (.dat)1 |
Yes |
No |
| CHEMKIN (.dat)1 |
Yes |
No |
| CAPE -OPEN1 (direct connection) |
n/a |
n/a |
| LXCAT file (.lxcat)2 |
Yes |
No |
| 1 |
Requires Chemical Reaction Engineering Module |
| 2 |
Requires Plasma Module |
Mesh
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| NASTRAN Bulk Data (.nas, .bdf, .nastran, .dat) |
Yes |
No |
| VRML, v1 (.vrml, .vrl) |
Yes |
No |
| STL (.stl) |
Yes |
Yes |
Numerical Data, Images, and Movies
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| Plain text (.txt) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Comma-separated values (.csv) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Copy and paste spreadsheet format |
Yes |
Yes |
| JPEG (.jpg) |
Yes |
Yes |
| PNG (.png) |
Yes |
Yes |
| BMP (.bmp) |
Yes |
Yes |
| GIF (.gif) |
Yes |
No |
| EPS (.eps) (2D graphs) |
No |
Yes |
| DEM (.dem) |
Yes |
No |
| Animated GIF (.gif) |
No |
Yes |
| Adobe® Flash (.swf) |
No |
Yes |
| AVI (.avi)1 |
No |
Yes |
| 1 |
Available for Windows only |
Programming Languages
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| MATLAB®: Model M-File (.m)1 |
Yes |
Yes |
| MATLAB®: Function (.m)1 |
Yes |
No |
| Java: Model Java File (.java) |
Yes |
Yes |
| C: Function |
Yes |
No |
| 1 |
Requires LiveLink™ for MATLAB® |
Interpolation Data Formats
| File Format |
Read |
Write |
| Spreadsheet |
Yes |
Yes |
| Grid |
Yes |
No |
| Sectionwise |
Yes |
Yes |
