Business Initiatives

2020 Vision: Pervasive Simulation

Simulation has an amazing future: It will be everywhere. Within 10 years, engineering

simulation will no longer be a step in the product design process, but it will become the
process itself.

Already, simulation is being used to visualize specific properties and com-

binations of properties. The ultimate goal of simulation is to evaluate an
infinite number of product designs and predict each one’s behavior in the
real world ­— a world that includes intended or unintended consumer usage,
the environment, and effects from other products — the combination of
which can throw flawless designs into chaos and dysfunction. These prod-
ucts do not exist within a vacuum but within systems, systems acting upon
Pervasive adj \ pər-vā-siv, -ziv : existing in or
systems. When next-generation simulation is used pervasively throughout
spreading through every part of something
the product design cycle, it will allow designers to see what is too small
or too quick to be observed. It will give development teams the luxury to
Simulation noun \ sim-yə-lā-shən : examination of a
fail — before failure has any consequences — and to build only the optimal
problem often not subject to direct experimentation
design alternative. An added benefit is heightened innovation.
using a virtual environment
To ensure that products succeed, development teams are pushing the
limits of simulation — along with the principles that guide its use — to new
extremes. Key forces, including innovation, speed and precision, oppose
each other. Natural tradeoffs in design metrics (such as fast vs. certain)
become unacceptable compromises as engineering moves to nano scale;
the situation is further complicated as time-to-market demands shrink to
days, not months.

With a unique ability to orchestrate unknowns into clarity, software simula-

tion is the new enabler. How it is used – pervasively – becomes the next
step.

Enabling trends
Fingertip Supercomputing

g The computational power required to execute simultaneous multiparam-

eter studies is orders of magnitude greater than it was just five years ago
(because parametric studies were not then the norm). Until recently, the
software algorithms that drive simulation models were too advanced to run
on existing computers. Now computing resources are readily available, and
access to immense multicore computational power is becoming common-
place. Mainstream graphics boards have broken the teraflop processing
barrier.

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 2020 Vision: Pervasive Simulation

In business terms, it is now possible to run large numerical models and,

at the same time, apply parametric studies on these large simulations.
Because of similar advances in networking — which has enabled compo-
nents such as 4G mobile and high-speed cloud computing — the precise
location of the compute box matters less than ever. Product designers and
R&D teams can access almost unlimited compute power from just about
anywhere.

g Integration of Physics, Resources and Knowledge

Engineering software historically followed the individual silos of physics,
which, in turn, fostered single-discipline virtual engineering. Engineers
did not stray far from their fields: They were structural analysts, experts
in fluid flow or specialists in electromagnetism, but not all three. Today’s
trend is multiphysics analysis: fluid–structure interaction, piezoelectric
analysis, or interaction among fluid, solid and electromagnetic fields in the
same model, to name a few. This trend has been encouraged by physics
integration in some high-end software platforms.

Common communication tools now enable quasi-instant collaboration

between members of a virtual team working on the same model from differ-
ent parts of the world. This process allows efficient knowledge transfer and
hive-based problem solving.

g Technology and User Maturity

Engineering simulation technology is maturing rapidly, but it is only 40
years old. A generation is a very short time to reach wide adoption, espe-
cially of such a revolutionary technology. As major public successes cred-
ited to engineering simulation multiply, more and more companies become
aware of the potential benefits of virtual prototyping.

To be applicable to a larger range of potential users, the technology itself

needed to mature — becoming faster, more robust and continually easier to
use. The combination of success awareness and evolving maturities is now
leading to an accelerated pace of adoption.

Market Changes Associated with Pervasive Simulation

As simulation becomes pervasive — offering the ability to model the whole
product and its environment — and as technology eliminates guesswork
from the design process, two profound concepts will emerge:

g Greater creativity and innovation, especially as product makers spend less

time and money on prototypes and product iterations, including those
designed to remedy original design flaws. Fixing a problem — troubleshooting
a design — is relatively easy when an engineer can pinpoint the cause of the
difficulty and see what is wrong. But seeing the problem is often at the core.
In the first phase of pervasive simulation, designers will struggle less with
(then eliminate) the problem of the unknown. The next evolution will be char-
acterized by designers having freedom to pursue daring and breakthrough

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 2020 Vision: Pervasive Simulation

ideas, knowing that the chances of success are higher, the risk of failure
lower, and the total cost of the ideation cycle vastly reduced. Furthermore,
those resources can be converted to profit or channeled into other endeavors.

g Transition of simulation from an instrument of design to a product feature.

This concept requires some imagination, but so did the idea of putting a
microchip on every single product to track inventory, location, price and
security status (RFID). Simulation can propagate into the end product,
enabling new controls for provider and user. Physicians, for example,
diagnose and treat patients based on what they see and hear in the patient’s
body. Even with advanced imaging systems, they make educated guesses
about the cause and effect of treatment. Imagine if, instead, doctors
performed real-time what-if scenarios based on a mathematical model
of what’s going on inside the body? And that the 3-D color renderings of
Preventing cerebral aneurysm rupture these equations display how the patient will respond? For other everyday
scenarios, product developers who use engineering simulation will be able
to see imperfections in everything from buildings to automobiles. Office
feels a little drafty? Wasting energy? Integrated simulation will identify
abnormal airflow and allow an immediate correction, exactly where it
is needed.

Conclusion
Software simulation tools powered by new generations of multicore,
networked, high-speed compute platforms provide great insight into how
products behave — all before they are built, shipped to customers and
ushered into history as the next big thing. Or the next disaster that ruined
a brand name.

Of course, many design organizations today have yet to implement multi-

dimensional simulation strategies. And simulation is not yet pervasively
part of the product experience. But the move toward pervasive simulation
— used holistically by a design organization and powering new user capa-
bilities — is real and unstoppable. Not because ANSYS says so, but because
simulation is backed by the power of an idea whose time has come.

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