Editor’s Pick: Simulate On-Demand

Here’s a new engineering analysis service that I learned about a couple of weeks ago and have been wanting to tell you about. It sounds neat and appears equally adept for individuals with a small consultancy as well as engineering outfits of any size.

A little background: Three years ago, this entrepreneurial bunch of mechanical engineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists near Munich Technical University—which calls itself the “Entrepreneurial University,” BTW—organized themselves into an engineering consultancy focusing on numerical simulation. From that beginning sprang the SimScale Platform, an online, on-demand, and scalable system for engineering simulation.

So, what does SimScale Platform offer? Specific CAE (computer-aided engineering) tools target structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics analyses. For structural mechanics, you can do things like modal/frequency analysis and nonlinear and dynamic simulations. Fluid mechanics simulation capabilities include laminar and turbulent modeling and mass transport within fluid flows. You can use SimScale Platform’s thermodynamic analysis tools to conjugate heat flows or use its steady state and transient solvers with time-dependent processes.

It sounds simple to use. You upload your CAD model in a neutral format, such as BREP, STEP, or triangulated STL. SimScale chews on it then displays a 3D model. You then have a full simulation workflow at your disposal: CAD preparation tools, automatic mesh creation, simulation setup, solving, result visualization, and post-processing. There’s tetrahedral meshing that includes prismatic boundary layers and hex-dominant meshing for CFD.

SimScale Platform scales from one core to 16 cores. You can run multiple machines in parallel for parameter studies if you want. You pay only for the computing power you actually need, and it seems to give you the flexibility to set up just what you need. You can download results and share results and set-ups with co-workers. There’s even a link that lets people you work with download your project for review.

And here’s where the SimScale Platform starts to get really interesting. There are three service tiers available: Basic, Professional, and Individual. The latter plan sounds like consultant services. The Professional level provides access to up to 16 cores as well as an unlimited number of meshes and simulations per month. The Basic level is the limited account. It provides you access to a single processing core, 20 meshes, and 10 simulations per month. But there’s no charge for it, making it a great opportunity for you to take the SimScale Platform for a test drive or to get some more horsepower fast and cost-effectively in a crunch.

More details about the SimScale Platform can be found hitting the link over there. You’ll find links to sign up for the Basic plan, to access some videos, and things like that. The SimScale Platform sounds and looks pretty neat. Give it a whirl and see for yourself.

Thanks, Pal. — Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

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