Millipore Designs Solutions for Customers

By Manager’s Guide to Productivity Gains With Multiphysics Simulation

Perhaps best known as a pioneer of membrane-based separation technologies, Millipore (Billerica, MA) is a multinational life science corporation with 5,900 employees worldwide and annual sales of $1.53 billion.

Millipore’s Bioscience Division develops products aimed at improving drug discovery and advancing life science research in the areas of cell biology, stem cell biology, protein research, and cell signaling. Chris Scott, Manager of Design Engineering in the Bioscience Division at Millipore, said, “My group designs products for the life science research, drug discovery and development, and lab filtration business units. We work closely with the mechanical and system engineers to design the various devices and systems with a focus on the end user.”

“We have examples where we have saved three to six months by making a critical directional decision early in the project. Using results from COMSOL helps support the logic behind these key decisions.”

These devices and systems are multiphysics in nature. They involve fluid flow, optics, electromagnetics, acoustics, heat transfer, chemical engineering, and mechanics of materials, which is why Scott’s group uses COMSOL Multiphysics in their product development cycle. “We find incredible value in the ability to use COMSOL for exploring these couplings. Early simulations can supplement information gathered from state-of-the-art and state-of-technology searches, which is part of every new product development process.”

Putting COMSOL to Use

The design engineering group at Millipore has been using COMSOL since 2007. “We purchased the base package and the Structural Mechanics Module initially because we were not happy with our [then] current FEA package, and wanted to expand our simulation capabilities,” Scott said. Additionally, a key factor in choosing COMSOL was that Millipore’s designers and engineers perform all simulations and analysis themselves. According to Scott, COMSOL offers a wide range of solutions in one package, which is highly beneficial for a small group working on a variety of diverse projects. “With COMSOL, we learned a single, easy-to-use interface and can now perform CFD, elecromagnetics, and mechanical FEA studies. I find that I can come back to COMSOL after a month or so focusing on other tasks, and perform a study without having to re-learn the software. This can’t be said for a lot of other software programs that we use.”

During design and technology development in the Bioscience Division, COMSOL is used to supplement knowledge gained through testing and experimentation. To establish a baseline for modeling, the physical testing of prototypes is used. “Building of capital equipment is a gating item in most product development schedules. We typically run simulations while the equipment is being designed, and can make changes before a lot of time and money is invested in the capital equipment,” Scott said.

Figure 1: 3D Model Results — observation of large deformations in the surrounding frame geometry. Results show 95% of the deflection was due to the frame and not the tab.

For example, when the group was designing a single-use breakaway snap tab (a cantilever snap-fit hook for holding two pieces together), they built a beta prototype and were looking to scale it up for production. The purpose of the study was to look at different materials and geometries to provide consistent breaking of the snap tabs at a given deflection value. This behavior was necessary to prevent disruption of biological elements within the device. “At that point, we were ready to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital equipment to produce this part and we needed to be certain of its function. Essentially, what we found through physical testing was that the tabs were not breaking consistently, but we did not know why,” said Scott.

The group imported the 3D model of the snap tab into COMSOL and ran a simulation, which revealed a result not detected during physical testing — when a force was applied to the tabs in the model, large deflections of the underlying geometry prevented consistent breaking of the tabs (see figure1). Based on the results, the frame was redesigned to be stiffer, which allowed the tab to break more consistently.

Figure 2: Product Section — Partial view showing a cross section through one of the snap tabs.

“Using COMSOL allowed us to quickly explore areas computationally and gain essential knowledge early in the development process. Knowledge through testing alone is specific to the test performed and the tools used. Knowledge through simulation helps to fill the gaps. When we perform physical testing, we are confirming. When we run a simulation, we are exploring,” commented Scott.

The Model Advantage

The design engineering group in Millipore’s Biosciences Division continues to use COMSOL in their product development process. Scott mentioned how one of the most important aspects where simulation can have a big impact is in improving products. He believes that the better his group understands why the devices and products behave the way they do, the more robust they will be to Millipore’s customers. “We also can make better decisions the deeper our knowledge. A balance of research, simulation, and physical testing is essential for developing novel and robust products,” he stated.

Scott described running a simulation in COMSOL as an insurance policy against the company’s investment. “For every engineering and mold change that can be prevented, we can save from $10K to $50K in general. Saving one design/build/test iteration cycle can save months on a project. We have examples where we have saved three to six months by making a critical directional decision early in the project. Using results from COMSOL helps support the logic behind these key decisions.”