Case Study: Johnson Screens reduces development costs and optimizes water-intake screen design with COMSOL Multiphysics

Custom design of water intake screens by using fluid and mechanical simulation cut development costs

Johnson Screens, a long-established manufacturer of steel water-intake screens, needed to design passive intake screens that block debris without harming fish or wildlife while maintaining smooth, uniform flow and resisting wave loading and fouling. To meet these constraints—low entrainment and entrapment, minimal zone of influence, and strict slot tolerances—Johnson Screens required accurate coupled fluid and structural analysis. They used Comsol’s COMSOL Multiphysics as an in-house modeling tool to predict flow patterns, turbulence regimes, and structural stresses across custom screen geometries.

Comsol implemented multiphysics CFD and structural simulations to optimize Johnson Screens’ V‑shaped wire, dual-pipe (and potential triple-pipe) flow modifiers, and the Hydroburst air backwash system, enabling design changes (aspect ratios, flow modifiers) and assessment of wave loading and air expansion events without physical prototypes. The modeling eliminated the need for extensive physical testing and external consulting, reduced development costs, supported permitting through clear result visualizations, and helped achieve design efficiencies such as the dual‑pipe approach that yields the same velocity with a 20–30% smaller intake.

Johnson Screens

Michael Ekholm

Manager, Applications and Product Development