ANSYS Discovery Live blows my mind
Back in the early 90’s, I was working at Exxon Production Research, trying to simulate pressure vessel and pipeline ruptures. The goal was to build tools that let engineers build off-shore oil rigs, refineries, and chemical plants that were more fault-tolerant. It was a fantastic job. On the one hand, we were dealing with complex thermodynamic mathematical models (programmed in FORTRAN to run on mainframes). And on the other hand… I got to blow up stuff!
That’s right, I got to build a facility that was essentially a scaled down physical model of pressure vessels and pipelines. We would pressurize them to thousands of psi and then, in an instant, flip a switch to open a valve to simulate a rupture. We started with simple gases like carbon dioxide and eventually progressed to flammable gases like methane. We instrumented everything with all kinds of sensors and watched as the gas escaped in tremendous plumes at supersonic speeds creating shock waves that shook our control center. So yeah, that was cool and all, but it took months and ultimately years to get enough data to refine the models and have an impact on design.
The science and tools for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have come a long way since back then. The need to generate your own computational models and then test in the real-world to validate has largely been replaced by very accurate engineering simulation tools. These tools do everything from CFD to finite element analysis (FEM) and more. And today it’s common for an engineering department to have a high-end Windows workstation with powerful NVIDIA GPUs to power 3D CAD and engineering simulation software that takes care of all the computation.
Today’s state-of-the-art typically involves these steps:
- Build the CAD model in 3D using your favorite tool (SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, PTC Creo, Siemens SolidEdge, etc.)
- Cleanup and modify the model to get it ready for simulation (often involves a simulation analyst)
- Mesh the model and refine the mesh (typically takes several days)
- Kick off the simulation job in your favorite simulation software (e.g. ANSYS).
- Wait a couple of hours (or overnight, or days) and get your result.
- Tweak your model and GO TO STEP 2.
This approach has worked well for many years now and has become the accepted standard practice. Well, ladies and gentleman, the state-of-the-art has just changed with the introduction of ANSYS Discovery Live.
Launched into tech preview just last month, ANSYS Discovery Live brings extremely powerful simulation tools to every designer and makes it possible for you to simulate live in real-time as you tweak your design. You see results instantly. No preparing the geometry model, no remeshing, no waiting for the job to complete. You see the effect of design changes live on-screen. ANSYS says it best:
“ANSYS Discovery Live provides instantaneous simulation, tightly coupled with direct geometry modeling, to enable interactive design exploration and rapid product innovation. It is an interactive experience in which you can manipulate geometry, materials and physics, and instantaneously see 3-D results.”
I have to say, this just blows my mind! The impact that Discovery Live will have on the speed of design innovation will be staggering. Design engineers will get results so much faster, unleashing their creativity to try more innovative approaches than they ever would have in the past. What this means to us as consumers is that we will see better, safer, more efficient, and more innovative products in a fraction of the time. To see some examples, check out the cool videos and customer commentary on the ANSYS tech preview website.
Try it now!
To make a great thing even better, you can now run the ANSYS Discovery Live tech preview on ANY DEVICE. You don’t need a workstation. You don’t need high-end GPUs. You don’t need a simulation analyst. All you need is a browser. Here’s how:
- Go to the ANSYS tech preview website and click on “Download Now” (but don’t worry, you won’t actually have to download anything)
- Register and create your login ID
- Instead of downloading the tech preview, choose the “Cloud Trial Option”
4. Pick your location (US East or West, Europe, or Asia) and click on “Start Demo”
5. In about 10 seconds you’ll be running Discovery Live on Frame (running on powerful workstation-class machines in the cloud, powered by NVIDIA GPUs).
ANSYS provides some sample models for you to play with, but you can upload your own models (just drag your file onto the browser window, let it upload, and you’ll find the file in the “Uploads” folder). It’s so amazing to see the simulations continuously running while you change the model geometry in real time.
I really believe that this new software from ANSYS will have a big impact on the design and engineering community. How I wish I would have had this kind of capability 25 years ago! But it’s here now and we’re incredibly excited at Frame to be partnering with ANSYS to bring this capability to you on any device. So check it out!
If you’re looking to run any other software in a browser let us know how we can help you get onboard with Frame.
