SimScale Simulation Control Parameters: Steering Your Analysis

SimScale equips you with various control parameters to guide your static analysis simulations. These settings allow you to fine-tune the simulation process for optimal efficiency and accuracy. Here's a breakdown of some key parameters:

1. Time Stepping:

• Pseudo Time Stepping: This technique is not used in true static analysis, which deals with constant loads. However, it's relevant in transient analysis (varying loads over time). Pseudo time stepping introduces a virtual time concept to help the solver converge to the static solution.

• Static Time Steps: While not strictly time steps in the traditional sense, this setting can be used to define a sequence of slightly varying load conditions within a static analysis. This can be helpful for simulating a load being gradually applied or investigating the behavior under slightly different load scenarios.

2. Processing Power:

• Number of Processors: This defines how many CPU cores on your computer (or cloud resources in SimScale) will be utilized for the simulation. Increasing this can significantly speed up calculations, especially for complex models.

• Number of Parallel Processes: This is an advanced setting for simulations leveraging multiple graphics processing units (GPUs). It defines how many parallel processes will be launched on each GPU, further accelerating calculations for large models.

3. Runtime Management:

• Maximum Runtime: This sets a limit on the total wall-clock time the simulation can run for. This is useful to prevent excessively long calculations, especially when exploring initial parameter sweeps or troubleshooting convergence issues.

Choosing the Right Settings:

SimScale offers default values for these parameters that work well for most simulations. However, you can adjust them for specific needs:

• For faster simulations: Increase the number of processors or consider using GPUs (if available) and adjust the number of parallel processes.
• For complex models: Allocate more memory (through your computer settings or cloud resources) to handle larger datasets.
• For troubleshooting convergence: Experiment with static time steps to see if they help the solver reach a stable solution.

Remember: Modifying these settings can impact accuracy and resource usage. It's recommended to start with default values and adjust them gradually while monitoring the simulation results. SimScale's documentation and support team can provide further guidance for specific scenarios.