Democratizing High Performance Computing (HPC): CFD Radial Fan Simulation – Case Study

The Digital Twin concept is creating an opportunity for PLM providers. Top management of PLM user companies already believe PLM is the owner of Digital Twin technology. The opportunity is for PLM providers to take the lead in defining road maps which will guide their customers’ visions for Digital Transformation. This paper considers road maps in other sectors and Cambashi market data to suggest how PLM providers can elbow their way to the front of the queue.

What Is a Digital Twin?

One of the first industries to consider the use of digital twins is the aerospace industry. In a very insightful paper, Glaessgen and Stargel explain the use of digital twins for vehicle certification and fleet management. The digital twin for a vehicle would be used to “continuously forecast the health of the vehicle or system, the remaining useful life, and the probability of mission success.” The description of the digital twin is the following: “A digital twin is an integrated multiphysics, multiscale, probabilistic simulation of an as-built vehicle or system that uses the best available physical models, sensor updates, fleet history, etc., to mirror the life of its corresponding flying twin.”

The term “digital twin” was coined by Michael Grieves at the University of Michigan in 2011.  The concept had already been formulated by Grieves in 2002, but was then referred to as a “mirrored spaces model.” In Grieves’s definition, the digital twin concept consists of a real space and a virtual space. The virtual space contains all of the information gathered from the real space. It also contains a high-fidelity description of the physical device or process from the microscopic level to the geometric, macroscopic level. The description provided by the digital twin should be “virtually indistinguishable from its physical counterpart.”

Modelon is pleased to continue its partnership with ANSYS by offering new Modelon-powered capabilities in ANSYS® Twin Builder™. The Twin Builder Fluid Power Library, a bundle of Modelon’s industry-leading pneumatics and hydraulics libraries, is currently available through ANSYS sales channels. The Fluid Power Library conveniently allows users to integrate pneumatic and hydraulic capabilities within their system models for simulation.

Decarbonization and sustainable development of power systems have become top priorities in the power sector. In order to achieve an environmentally sustainable and stable power system, thermal power plants need to become more flexible, efficient, and produce lower specific emissions than what they do today. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges power sector companies face is successfully transitioning towards decarbonized power systems while being smart about investment and accounting for the variability of both renewable energy sources and demand.   

Modelon teamed up with researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) to prove how Modelon’s Thermal Power Library can be used to design a more flexible and decarbonized power plant. In this webinar, our presenters will walk us through their study of building a scalable plant model, using data from a large-scale pilot plant to validate their model, designing control structures, and effectively integrating Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) technology to lower power plant emissions.

Democratizing HPC Part 8: Welding Simulation. EMC2 and AweSim developed an App allowing non-specialists to access and use Virtual Fabrication Technology (VFT)

…when we’re talking about a digital twin, we’re after something very different. It’s about capturing sensor data from a product in real time and feeding it in real time to a simulation being solved in real time. That’s the biggest difference. It’s not done separately. It’s not done later. It’s being run in real time while the product is in use. We can learn how the product is being used, and in what ways it might be failing.

Optimal design uses live, real world data from existing assets in monitoring process. Aim to combine with robotic inspection to reduce cost and downtime.
Predictive digital pioneer, Akselos, has secured funding from technology accelerator, the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (The OGTC), to advance research and development in to digital twin technology for the oil and gas industry.

https://akselos.com/akselos-announces-new-project/

The idea behind simulation-driven design is sound: Simulate earlier in the design process to catch design and manufacturing errors before they cause problems down the line. The more designs you get right the first time, the less time and money is spent on engineering change orders, testing and even recalls.

These are the slides from the Keynote Presentation. See also the April 2018 issue of NAFEMS Benchmark.

Conducting engineering simulations in today’s business environment can be challenging. Executives often give a begrudging approval to simulation teams to do their work. But its infrequent that those simulation teams are able to expose their work to the broader enterprise. There has been trends more recently, however, to expose simulation results in new and exciting ways that are more accessible to non-technical roles.

Workhorse 3D design tools allow designers and engineers to define, experiment, and capture shape and geometric function. Simulation follows on from this to predict, accurately and robustly, how a product will perform, both structurally as an object and when interacting with the world around it.

Episode 2: BWAY Buckets. A RevSim (RevolutioninSimulation.com) virtual coffee break short video highlighting the virtual modeling and simulation of plastic buckets by BWAY as an example industrial case study showcasing the democratization of HPC services and resources for everyday business purposes.

An overview of the new RevSim (RevolutioninSimulation.com) virtual coffee break series of short videos that will each highlight an example industrial case study illustrating the accessibility, availability, and capabilities (e.g. democratization) of HPC services and resources for researchers and engineers.

The demand for software tools for Engineering Simulation are exploding to support the demand for increased competitiveness and to deal with the rapidly growing complexity of products, processes, and systems. This increased demand for Engineering Simulation has also made many ask “what is the role of Machine Learning in Engineering Simulation?”

Model sharing between domain experts and model experts allows process automation expert to integrate the model without sharing the complete model: permissions

In 2015 Ora Research reported on GKN Driveline’s journey to democratize CAE with SPDM (Democratizing CAE with SPDM at GKN Driveline). “Our approach,” Valine described at the time, “was to create a virtual tool kit—one of three web portals inside a bigger system. This is the application that contains our standard calculation tools, both empirical and numerical.”

Maturing capital markets are driving a strong demand for product innovation to meet the growing needs of consumers. To meet these demands, engineers and designers have turned to simulation driven design to launch new products to market faster and cost effectively.

Simulation has evolved to the point where it should be part of every designer’s workflow. When you send your design for formal analysis, you’ll know you’re sending a more developed product to the analysis department—not asking them to figure out if the bolt has the wrong diameter.

Here’s a quote from the article:
Looking back a couple of decades, it was really only the big aerospace and automotive companies that got the most value out of simulation, or even attempted it. That’s no longer true. Now, every organization—and the design engineers in those organizations—can get value and should be using it. You’re missing out if you don’t, and even more so when your competitors do!

Simulation technologies are sure to evolve in the coming years. The key challenge for manufacturers will be to determine which type of tool will best suit the needs and challenges of their customers and shop.

The task of getting the right level of automation and control is far from trivial. Strategic positioning statements that imply otherwise are concerning. It has been a long, hard road to achieve credibility for FEA and it is a pity to see it diluted now.

This presentation introduces Rev-Sim.Org  – the industry’s on-line resource for democratizing simulation while providing real-world case studies of organizations who are safely extending analysis capabilities throughout the organization.

The NAFEMS series comprises four 2-hour sessions across four weeks. It answers your “what” questions: What is upfront engineering simulation? What’s the benefit? What do I need to know before I get into, say, a structural simulation? What’s the workflow? What about validating results?

Eight frequently asked design questions provided by ANSYS.

This white paper discusses the ways that simulation must change to make it a more “democratic” tool that can be used by everyone on the development team — from veteran product engineers to less experienced designers at the beginning of their careers.

This is an attention-grabbing title, especially for a presentation at a conference full of simulation analysts. The conference in question was the Conference on Advanced Analysis and Simulation in Engineering (CAASE) 2018, held earlier this year in Cleveland, Ohio. The presenter was Mark Zebrowski, a retired Ford analyst with some strong opinions on the state of simulation.

If you are in the business of making engineering simulation or a lead practitioner, here are several reasons you need to attend ASSESS (October 28 to 30, near Atlanta, GA), one of only two conferences dedicated to engineering simulation that features more than one brand of software. The other, of course, is the NAFEMS conference.

It’s been well documented how simulation software can both innovate designs and increase product quality, while also reducing costs, risk and development time. However, simulation is still not seeing the boom in usership CAE vendors crave. What gives?

Tailored specifically to the unique needs of the startup community, the global program offers preferential pricing for its simulation-driven design, computer-aided engineering, cloud computing and Internet of Things software solutions. The program also provides no-cost expert consulting to quickly ramp up startup organizations with Altair HyperWorks.