It may be a good idea to use simulation software in the cloud for simulation

As engineering companies use simulation more and more in the design process and the whole product development process , The demand for simulation resources has expanded . This is for many companies IT The burden of infrastructure , It also makes small companies without their own high-performance computing (HPC) In the case of resources , Struggling to find ways to run more complex simulations

Cloud based simulation is becoming the solution to these two problems . According to the transparent market research company ,2016 In, the simulation market based on cloud computing reached 33 Billion dollars , Expect to 2025 There will be 11.4% Compound annual growth rate of , achieve 85 Billion dollars —— This is faster than the overall growth rate of the simulated market .

according to ANSYS Product Management Director Todd McDevitt That's what I'm saying , The demand for cloud based simulation is growing , Especially in the past year , Because companies are looking for more flexibility in simulation . Enterprises are also looking for sudden capabilities that do not require investment in additional hardware or software licenses during peak demand periods .

McDevitt Express :“ Customers may have some form of local high-performance computing infrastructure , But they want to reduce the waiting time , Or they are going through a refresh cycle on the hardware , Want to shift the workload from these resources .”“ But it usually starts with a strong need .”

therefore , Traditional simulation service providers have begun to expand into cloud computing , And new start-ups that only use cloud computing are beginning to emerge in the market .

SimScale CEO David • Heini said :“ Now there is a well-educated market for cloud engineering software .“ Large vendors have taken steps to provide cloud solutions , So the industry is more familiar with this method .”

The appeal of cloud based simulation varies depending on the existing investments of a single company . Siemens PLM Ravi, director of simulation product marketing of software company • Shankar said :“ If they have invested in existing hardware , Then the power to enter cloud computing will not be so strong .”“ When ( Enterprises ) When purchasing new hardware , Cloud computing options become more interesting . They may have bigger models , Hope to make better use of .”

Cloud computing makes NX Nastran The automobile body model can be simulated effectively by parallel processing on a large number of cores . Picture by Siemens PLM Software provides .

OnScale CEO Ian • Campbell (Ian Campbell) Express , The bottleneck of queuing to obtain on-site high-performance computing resources is OnScale The motivation for the establishment of the company . He explained that the :“ Tradition CAE The cost of technology is too high 、 Risk is too big 、 Too slow .”“ Every engineering company experiences a cycle of Engineering workloads , But the existing CAE The way the model works is , You have a variable workload and a fixed computer infrastructure , Cannot meet the scale of these workloads . If demand exceeds supply , You are wasting time waiting for admittance . If supply exceeds demand , You are wasting your budget and resources .”

“ Simulated loads are never stable ,” Heini said .“ You have peak demand . On the cloud , If you want to 100 Running on cores 20 Simulation , It's right there . You just run it . You don't need to discuss with the supplier about obtaining an emergency license . And like 《SimScale》 So cloud based solutions are an out of the box approach .”

Different methods

Simulation providers take a slightly different approach to their cloud offerings . establish SimScale To provide structure in the cloud 、 mechanical 、 Flow and thermal simulation , And some multi physical simulations . The company's platform can be integrated with other design tools , Support most common exchange formats fundamentally .“ stay SimScale Everything produced in can be downloaded and used in another solver ,” Heini said .

SimScale There is also a free community program , Can be used for open source and amateur projects . The professional pricing level is for proprietary projects , Including unlimited data storage 、 Encryption and real-time support . Enterprise class for multi-user and more computationally demanding simulations .

The community plan exposes the project to other members . Heini said :“ In the same software and community , Sharing this technology in simulations becomes more intense and effective .”“ This product includes collaboration .”

The company's target customers are new simulators . Heini said :“ Our approach is to make the simulation more accessible .” Cloud based simulation not only reduces entry costs , And you can achieve a greater degree of collaboration .“ You can collaborate with other stakeholders in real time , They can all view the same simulation project in real time ,” Heini said .“ We also use data science to automate some work , These things are impossible to achieve in the desktop field .”

ANSYS Work closely with your own cloud hosting network partners , Optimize their products to run on their infrastructure , To ensure reliable availability through their data centers .“ We ensure that our solutions and our products are ro

Moving streamlines show airflow around a Chevrolet wire rendering using realistic ray tracing . Use ANSYS Ensight visualization . Picture by ANSYS And general motors

McDevitt say :“ We can be in the new GPU Instance and other high-performance computing architectures .“ We will not force our customers to adopt a specific business model . Our customers can bring paid licenses to the cloud and use them there , We have introduced a usage based licensing system .”

Siemens mainly works with Rescale Cooperate to provide cloud based simulation , Provide NX Nastran、Simcenter 3D and Star CCM+ The interview of . Customers can use Rescale The purchase is based entirely on software as a service (SaaS) The license for , Traditional licenses can also be purchased from Siemens and used Rescale To host software .

Shankar say :“ Our philosophy and strategy is , In terms of how customers interact with our software solutions , Provide as much flexibility as possible .”“ The cloud model adds another layer of flexibility .”

He said , The company plans to eventually provide a native solution for Cloud Computing .

“ The need for the cloud varies ,” Shankar said .“ This is not a major part of our current business , But we are making sure that everything is ready for the customers who need it , We expect growth in the future .”

OnScale Free software ( monthly 10 Core hours ), And use Amazon Web Services (AWS) As its computing platform .“ Users don't have to pay that much for each seat . This service is sold on a subscription basis .”

OnScale It is aimed at the market neglected by other simulation companies , Like the Internet of things (IoT) organization , These organizations do not necessarily have the tools to meet their needs .OnScale Company claims , Because of being able to AWS Get nearly unlimited computing resources on , And be able to perform tasks that are difficult or impossible for traditional infrastructure , such as 3D Version of surface acoustic wave filter , The performance of the company is better than that of traditional simulation tools .

Some experts think , complete SaaS Mode is the future of engineering .“ Engineers are keen to eliminate licensing and computing bottlenecks ,”OnScale Vice president of Engineering Gerry Harvey say .

Other new tools are emerging , Traditional players are also working with cloud based companies . Earlier this year ,SimScale Announced the integration of Siemens Parasolid Software and HOOPS Exchange, To provide more seamless simulation workflow and higher accuracy .

Autodesk by Autodesk CFD、Moldflow and Fusion360 Provide cloud simulation . Plastic simulation provider Moldex3D Also in the AWS Released a cloud extension of its software on , No need to invest in new hardware or software licenses , You can uninstall a larger simulation .

Rescale Provides support for a variety of applications 、 Cloud based access to different cloud providers and mixed internal data centers . Except for ANSYS Cooperate with Siemens ,Rescale Also provide xpliccomputing Of X2 Firebird CAE Software , By the hour . Other partners include Autodesk、CAE Solutions、COMSOL And Dassault Systèmes.

More flexibility

Customers adopt different cloud deployment methods according to the size of their models and existing infrastructure . They often want sudden access or are looking for other ways to increase their own computing infrastructure . Smaller companies may rely entirely on cloud solutions to meet their simulation needs .

ANSYS Fluent The oil quantity of the rotor pump is simulated , Shows the degree of cavitation on the gear wall ( Red ). Use ANSYS Ensight visualization . Picture by ANSYS Provide .

The cloud also provides hardware resiliency . Different solvers and physical programs are usually optimized for different types of hardware . Cloud based solutions allow engineers to access a wider range of hardware instances than they might otherwise support ( At least there is no significant cost ). Compared with high frequency electromagnetic or mechanical simulation , Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) How much memory a user needs per core is different —— The cloud provides access to all these configurations .

Companies with existing in-house infrastructure may take a hybrid approach , Run some simulations on your own device as required , Run other simulations in the cloud . Data is also a factor , Because simulation creates a lot of data , Users do not necessarily want to move back and forth between systems .

Whether the simulation is running on premise or on a cloud based infrastructure , Engineers should be invisible .McDevitt Express :“ The platform should allocate work to the appropriate resources , In this way, engineers will feel that the process is the same . These decisions about resources can be made at the application level rather than at the platform level .

stay ANSYS, McDevitt Express , about CFD The customer said , Many users do some preprocessing locally first , Then push the solution part to the cloud , So they can get faster turnaround time . Part of the reason is the scale and complexity of the model .

McDevitt said :“ In terms of machinery , We see that customers want more interaction in the cloud , And more pretreatment and post-treatment .” In the field of Electronics , Customers may address specific frequencies on their workstations , But moving to the cloud , Repeat the same test on multiple other frequencies .

McDevitt say :“ This is similar to the design point , Customers want to optimize design points through different geometric parameters or different material configurations .”“ They will solve a design point , Then go back to design 100 or 1000 Two different variants .”

Shankar explained , What Siemens' customers are most interested in cloud based products are large models that want to utilize parallel processing or burst simulation .Shankar say :“ They can immediately take advantage of the additional capacity provided by the cloud , Without the need for IT Build new hardware .”

This does not mean that cloud computing applies to all companies . Users seeking stable use status will not find the economic benefits of the cloud platform . McDevitt said :“ It's like selling your car , Then go to Uber (Uber) The driver 24 Sit at your door for hours without interruption .”“ The economic problems will not be solved .”

At present, some industries cannot be completely cloud

Due to certification requirements or safety issues , Some aerospace and defense customers cannot take advantage of certain types of cloud services . Companies that mainly use small models that can calculate quickly , Or companies that already have unused computing power , Unlikely to benefit from migration to the cloud . Shankar said :“ If the model does not take advantage of parallel processing , So in those cases , Cloud computing has no advantage .”

“ If you have just invested in a new high-performance computing architecture , You first have to make sure you have access to the hardware ,” Henny added .

He said , For cloud simulation customers , The biggest challenge comes from their local counterparts —— Users must trust the simulation results .

He said :“ If they are not prepared to take advantage of these insights , Then there is no point in doing so , Commitment and cloud solutions are the same .” This is where collaboration and support come in handy . We have a special induction program , Working with customers , Let them trust what they are doing . This is the key task . Cloud computing does not remove this barrier , But the tools that make users successful allow us to get there faster than the desktop realm .”