What’s New

July 27, 2023
Study Issues Assistant
The Study Issues Assistant is your personalized trouble-shooting assistant. It contains an interactive list of errors and warnings that you encounter in your simulation workflow and guides you toward resolving them.

Enhancements to the Contact Feature
The Initial Contact setting has been moved to the Modeler tab under Global Interactions.
A new tooltip description has been added to the General Contact setting to help you decide when to use it.
Initial Contact between parts will be selected as Bonded by default unless changed manually.

Enhancements to the Results Post-Processor
Resolved bugs relating to results loading and closing, bounding output values, and compatibility with dark theme.

May 25, 2023
NEW Post Processor
3X Faster Results Loading – Simulation Results in OnScale Solve now load 3X faster! Large simulation results that opened in minutes now can take seconds.

Enhanced 3D Rendering with gradient shading– Our new image rendering technology provides a more aesthetic look to your results. The new renderer comes with deeper color schemes and bolder edges, giving your results a more realistic feel.

New Deformation Scale Factor – You now have more control over deformation scaling from 1X to 25X providing you with a real-world physical deformation as well as an exaggerated animation.

Deep Select
You can now select parts and faces that are hidden from view by front-facing geometry. RMB select anywhere and scroll through parts and faces. For example, select interior faces for Contact on a multi-part assembly.

May 15, 2023
750 NEW MATERIALS (Ansys Granta™ Materials Add-on)
Ansys Granta Materials Data for Simulation is now available as an add-on for OnScale users. The package contains over 750 materials covering a wide range of material classes. A sample containing 40 of these materials is available for all users.

Why is this important to you? With Ansys Granta™ Materials add-on, engineers can now access simulation-ready materials data covering a wide range of applications. Selecting materials with the right properties will have a crucial effect on your design decisions. The Granta material library provides you with a trusted resource when assigning properties like Youngs Modulus, tensile strength, yield stress, etc.

Mar 13, 2023
Library
Library is now available in OnScale Solve. Library allows users to store simulation assets for later reuse and to share these assets with their team members, improving collaboration and standardizing the design process. With this release, assets that can be stored in the library include material property definitions, CAD designs and parameter sweep definitions.

Why is it important to you?
With the library, users can save time by avoiding the need to rebuild assets for each simulation modification. Plus, the library reduces the risk of errors and variations in model definitions by giving team members access to the exact same assets.

Export an Asset into The Library / Import an Asset From the Library
Users can easily export an asset into the library from the model tree. User can access the library pane from the navigation bar in a project and import assets into the project.

Manage Library Items
From the Solve dashboard, users can manage the library items and perform actions such as editing, removing, and sharing library items. The library inherits permissions from team member roles, which dictate whether or not members can make edits or deletions.

Jan 19, 2023
Contact Modeling

Bonded and unbonded contact settings are now available in OnScale Solve, allowing users to analyze the stresses and strains arising in interacting bodies. Contact interaction can be specified between any set of faces or on the whole model using the General Contact setting.

Contact analysis is relevant in many applications involving interacting bodies including robotics, machining, structural bearings, and biomechanics. The figure below is an example of the Von Mises stress depicted in a wrench and bolt that are in contact with each other.

Automatic Contact Detection

OnScale Solve will automatically detect contacting surfaces when the General Contact setting is enabled. This is an efficient way to include all possible contact interactions and default settings without needing to select individual surfaces.

Nov 4, 2022
Plasticity Material Model
New material model for simulating the hardening plastic behavior. With this new material model, users can model non-linear materials, simulating more realistic material behavior beyond the yield stress.

Thermal Fluid Capability
Users can now simulate heating/cooling scenarios in fluid simulations. This new physics capability can be used in project applications such as HVAC, electronic cooling.

September 29, 2022
New Local Coordinate System
Local coordinate system (LCS) is available for a range of constraints and loads. This offers more options for directional control of the loads.

The release of LCS opens up for more complex features coming soon, such as contacts and advanced materials.

September 13, 2022
New Workflow for Remote Loads
Users can directly set up remote loads on selected surface without creating intermediate bodies. The new method is easier to understand and use.

Project Sharing to Get Support
With project sharing ability, customers can add OnScale support engineers to any project. Support engineers will be able to view the project and offer advice on the model in a simpler manner.

New Error Handling
New system for delivering error messages to users through UI. Unique error codes can help users to track down issues quicker. Solutions are offered to debug and fix the issues.
This release is our first stage of error handling improvements. More functions are coming soon.

April 1, 2022
Faster Automated Meshing: :
With the latest release of OnScale Solve, we have made significant improvements to our default automesher that is 3X faster.

With the new release, users will now be able to run their simulations immediately after setting up their model as the meshing process will automatically run in the background from the moment a CAD file is imported.

Why is it important to you?
Meshing is notoriously the most time consuming stage of running CAE analysis. The new update will tremendously cut down your downtime while running any study allowing you to focus more on analyzing your results. As shown in the GIF below, the mesh was instantly generated after the physics details were set up.

More Mesh Resolution Options
Previously, users had the option to refine the default mesh up to two higher resolutions beyond the standard mesh size. We have added 6 more resolution options that users can choose from. This is shown in the GIF below.

Why is it important to you?
In order to be accurately resolved, regions of interest such as localized stress concentration, might require a larger mesh density than the default size. The ability to quickly refine your mesh with a single-click will circumvent the need to create a customizable mesh.

Reactions :
Reaction forces and moments are now available for any fixture you set up in your mechanical study. To access them, load your results, click Mechanical Study > Physics > Mechanical and select the Fixture of interest. Values will be populated in a table format as shown in the GIF below.

Enhanced CAD Importing Process: :
In previous releases, CAD Import progress was reported in a pop-up window. Users had to wait for the import to be completed before they could use the platform. With the latest release of OnScale Solve, we have revamped our CAD import messaging progress to natively exist in your Project tab. Moreover, users will now receive an email notification upon importing large CAD models that require more than 30 seconds to be imported.

Why is it important to you?
This update will allow you to simultaneously create as many projects as you need in order to take advantage of our parallel computing resources.

Other General Updates:

1.Enhanced results viewing experience
2.Enhanced tracking for simulation progress
3.Enhanced CAD import progress reporting
4.More accurate study time estimations

February 24, 2022
Introducing Sensors: :
Sensors are a new construct in OnScale Solve that control what outputs will be generated by your simulation study. For most static studies, an automatically generated Global Sensor will output all fields relevant to the physics being simulated. However, if you are interested in viewing outputs and statistical data (called Insights) on a specific section of your model, you can create your own Sensor in the Simulator section using the Sensor toolbar.

Sensors appear in the 3D view just like Physics do, with a pin indicating where a Sensor has been applied on your model. They can be applied to bodies, parts, faces, or even points by selecting the appropriate geometry type in the Sensor properties panel. Once your study is run, you can access the outputs of your Sensor by selecting it in the Results tree.

Why is it important to you?

For example, as seen in the below GIF, a Sensor can be applied to a Body containing the relevant faces to identify the peak interfacial stresses and maximum temperature within a model. And, in the Results section, from the Properties Panel of the Sensors, users can easily access the corresponding aggregate properties including the maximum, the minumum, and the avergage values of the requested outputs.

Introducing Bodies: :
With the latest release of OnScale Solve, we now support the creation of new geometry constructs called Bodies via the Model Tree, accessible from both the Modeler and the Physics sections. Bodies are a set of geometry entities that can be grouped together and used for the application of loads and boundary conditions, modifying meshing parameters and applying Sensors for requesting outputs.

With the future releases, user-created Bodies can be further identified as separate “Discrete Bodies’ ‘ which can be further classified as Rigid or Deformable for Mechanical Simulations from under the Properties Panel of Bodies. As of this release, Bodies can only be identified as Rigid as seen here and all user-created bodies are treated as “Deformable” by default.

Creating Bodies

Any combination of the geometry entities ( Parts, Faces, & Edges ) listed under the “Discrete Body” section of the Model Tree can be grouped together to create a Body.Below are two examples of the creation of bodies, one comprising just the faces and another one comprising separate parts.

Creating a body with Faces

Creating a body with Parts

Toggle between Assembly and Bodies Trees:

Users can also easily toggle between the “Assembly” tree and the “Bodies” tree views by clicking on the respective icons at the bottom of the Model Tree as seen below. The “Assembly” tree can only be populated with “Discrete Bodies”, each representing a set of geometry entities in continuum identified accordingly during a CAD file import.

Application of Loads to Bodies:

Loads and boundary conditions from under the Physics section can also be applied to bodies, representing a collection of geometry entities. As seen in the below example, the same single value of a heat power load representing low power electronics on a printed circuit board can be applied to a group of parts comprising a body by simply toggling to Body selection from under the “Applied To” area in the Properties Panel

January 31, 2022

Torque Loads: :
OnScale Solve now has the ability to define Torque loads during model setup. A torque load can be defined in Nm using the Properties Panel along with the coordinates for the Center of Rotation. The location of the Center of Rotation is specified with respect to the global origin.

Why is it important to you?
Torque loads are experienced by mechanical parts and assemblies in a broad range of applications. It is therefore very important to run simulations to understand the torsional effects of the structure under different loading conditions. Specifically, for example, the relationship between the tightening torque and initial load of bolted connections is an important area of concern for structures that are secured by bolts. And, as seen in the below example, the torque loads experienced by shafts is another important factor to consider in designs that rely on shafts for transmission.


Single Sign-On: :
OnScale Solve now enables an easy registration and login experience via our new Single Sign-On feature. Specifically, users of both Google and Microsoft will be able to get authenticated with OnScale using their email addresses.

Why is it important to you?
User and Data Security is a very important aspect of OnScale Solve and we consistently work to provide best-in-class security features to all our users. With Single Sign-On, your data with OnScale Solve is secured by the same credentials that you use with your primary email service provider and this significantly reduces the number of attack surfaces. With this update, we are proud to provide another layer of protection to your sensitive CAD and simulation data on OnScale Solve.


Rigid Bodies: :
OnScale Solve now has the ability to define Rigid bodies during model setup. A rigid body can be defined by selecting a part or multiple parts from the Model Tree -> Right Click -> Add to Body -> Create Body and in the ensuing Property Panel, toggle on Rigid Body.

Why is it important to you?
The advantage of rigid bodies is that the motion of a rigid body is described completely by no more than six degrees of freedom at a reference node. While analyzing complex assemblies, certain parts that are typically stiff can be made rigid during early stages of simulation and thereby reducing the complexity and size of the simulations significantly.

Further, in explicit dynamics, Rigid Bodies provide a great way to increment the time step of the simulation significantly while simultaneously contributing to increased stability with the convergence. The support for Rigid Body definition in OnScale Solve is our first step towards supporting such complex analysis in the future.

December 6, 2021

Launcher:
OnScale Solve now has a new interface to launch, monitor, and manage simulations. We call this interface the “Launcher”. This new update is part of our continuous effort to build and offer the best and most intuitive interface for running simulations on the cloud.  The new launcher also provides an intuitive interface for editing and setting up parametric simulations. 

The launcher represents the crux of OnScale’s mission: enable design iteration with a tool as smart as the engineers that choose to use it. The launcher represents the consolidation of countless scripts and studies, now accessible from the moment you set up a simulation. Our launcher interface pushes the bounds of Solve’s parametrization simulation abilities, optimizing the design process for the world’s engineers, and we are excited to keep pushing towards our patented Machine Learning Mesh & Estimator technology that provides critical and accurate information on simulation run times and core hour costs to users.

Why is it important to you?
The OnScale Solve Launcher provides users the ability to review inputs easily and proceed to run simulations with confidence.

Create a New Material:
OnScale Solve now has the ability to create new user-defined materials. The newly created materials will be part of the OnScale Solve project it was created from and will be available for all the subsequent branches and versions created within the project.

For companies on OnScale Solve Team Plan, sharing a project with team members allows them access to any newly defined materials in the project.

Why is it important to you?
OnScale Solve offers dozens of materials and the list is growing.  We know our users require unlimited material selection which is why we’ve exposed the ability to edit or create from scratch any material by defining Density, Poisson’s Ratio, Young’s Modulus, Thermal Conductivity, Specific Heat, and Thermal Expansion.

Remote Displacements:
OnScale Solve now has the ability to define remote displacements during the model setup. A displacement can be made remote using a new toggle in the Displacement Properties panel. The location of the Remote Displacement is specified with respect to the global origin.

Why is it important to you?
While working with assemblies, it is often important to determine the maximum load a given constraint on a part can withstand for a predetermined displacement.  The ability to define this displacement on a face at a distance with respect to a global origin allows for careful analysis of the buckling or deformation behaviors in complex assemblies. In OnScale Solve, the connection between the remote point and the face is treated as “deformable” by default.

October 5, 2021

CAD Sync: ( PRO and TEAM subscriptions ) 
OnScale Solve’s new CAD Sync functionality dramatically improves the Design and Analysis workflow.  With CAD Sync, when you import your CAD geometry from Onshape, you can automatically update the geometry in OnScale Solve while retaining all the simulation features like materials and loads that have already been applied to the geometry. You no longer need to re-import your Onshape file and redefine all your analysis settings during the iterative design process of modifying geometry and analyzing simulation results.  Once you set up all your parameters in OnScale Solve to run a simulation for mechanical, thermal, structural-thermal, or fluid flow analysis, you can make a change to the geometry in Onshape based on your simulation results and click CAD Sync to update the geometry in OnScale Solve.  

Why is this important to you?

CAD Sync is a one-click operation that keeps your connected Onshape CAD geometry in sync with any existing simulation settings in OnScale Solve such as materials, suppressed parts, restraints, forces, temperature settings, inlets, outlets, and more.  In a typical Design and Analysis workflow, you may need to iterate dozens of times to get to a final optimized product.  OnScale Solve new CAD Sync functionality can save hours and ultimately allow you to get your products to market faster.

Remote Forces:
OnScale Solve now has the ability to apply remote forces.  A Force can be made “Remote” using a new toggle in the Force Load properties panel.  The location of the Remote Force is specified with respect to the global origin. Remote forces provide a way of defining distributed loads on a body (collections of geometric entities like surfaces) where the force is applied at a reference point that can be remotely located from the body and transmitted through the centroid of the body. The motion of the reference point is coupled to the motion of the centroid of the body which is why remote forces are sometimes referred to as distributed coupling loads.  Remote forces can be used to represent loads from components that are not included in the CAD geometry, which reduces the simulation complexity.

Remote forces are available now in OnScale Solve and will be followed soon by torque loads and remote displacement and rotation constraints. Each of these behaves the same way in that they are applied at a (possibly remote) reference point and transmitted to the geometry in a distributed way. 

By default, the geometry that remote loads and constraints are applied to is represented as deformable – that is it has finite stiffness and can undergo stress and strain. The option to represent the geometry as a rigid body will also be available soon in OnScale Solve.

Why is it important to you?

Applying a remote force allows engineers to perform highly accurate simulations without meshing and analyzing extraneous components in large complex assemblies.  For example, you might need to structurally analyze the bending point of a robotic arm but your assembly contains the entire robot along with the end effector.  With Remote Forces, you can suppress the robot body along with the End Effector and position the force and direction of where the End Effector would be in space.  Another example may be a pedal on a bicycle crank arm as seen below.  You can suppress the pedal and position a force where downward pressure would be located. 

August 10, 2021

Gravity:

OnScale Solve now allows users to include the effects of Gravity in the model setup. This can be turned on from under the Mechanical Environment settings, as shown in the below GIF. By default, the value is set to -9.81 m/(s^2) in the Z direction representing the acceleration due to Earth’s gravity.

Why is it important to you?

Often, especially while working with heavy assemblies, it might be important to include the effects of an assemblies’ own weight in the simulations. By simply toggling on the Gravity button, users will now be able to include the effects due to accelerating loads. 

July 26, 2021

Dual State Trees:

With this new release, we have made a change to the access and interaction of the Simulation Modeler Tree in the Modeler area of OnScale Solve.

Why is it important to you? This new change allows for easy access to the Model Tree at every stage of the simulation workflow.

Show Mesh – New Global setting to view the mesh:

The “Show Mesh” setting to view the generated mesh in the Simulator section of the Modeler has moved to the settings gear in the bottom right corner with “Show Lighting”

July 7, 2021

OnScale CAD Library:

We implemented a new default CAD Library that has the CAD files for all the tutorials listed in our website.

Why is it important to you? This makes it easy for new users, without CAD files, to try and learn OnScale Solve.

June 25, 2021

Study Validation Warnings and Errors:

With the new release, we have implemented a better warning and error tracking system that provides intuitive feedback to the users on the errors with their model setup.

Why is it important to you?

With Study Validation, you will receive real-time feedback while setting up a study for simulation.

For example, we display a warning sign if a new load you added has 0 magnitude in value. If you don’t add material to a part you’re simulating, you will get a warning message to go back to this critical step.

Deformed mesh:

We have added a feature that allows for the mesh to be deformed while using the Deformation Scale in the Results section.

Why is it important to you?
The visual representation of the deformed mesh provides an intuitive understanding about the nature and extent of different deformations in your model. It also makes for a much cleaner presentation while sharing the results with different collaborators.

Improved Versioning:

Changing/adding new material properties via Scripted Studies will trigger the creation of a new version automatically.

Why is it important to you?
Automatic creation of new versions for model setups with previous simulation results will maintain the versioning integrity in Solve. Even while modifying the code using Scripted Studies, OnScale Solve will recognize the changes made to material properties and auto create a new version if the current version has previous simulation results.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug where attempting to suppress multiple parts only suppressed a single part
• Fixed a bug where attempting to view a running simulation would fail with a generic error

June 4, 2021

Improved support for complex CAD such as large assemblies:

• Faster interaction and manipulation of CAD geometry with greater than ~100 parts and ~200 faces
• Reduced CAD import times by ~2-5 minutes for larger assemblies
• Start working in the Modeler while processing is completing
• Improved progress and error messages during CAD import

Improved Meshing:

• Improved mesh quality for automated meshing
• Improved mesh granularity for intricate edges
• Improved meshing of very thin and hollow parts

Improved Versioning:

• A new Version is now automatically created when parts are suppressed in a locked Version (a Version is locked when it has simulation results).

Improved Modeler:

• Finer tuned shading and lighting for CAD
• Manipulation performance improvements for both simple and complex CAD

UX Improvements:

• Better tooltips for fluid flow analysis
• Multi-select support for suppressing parts
• Improved estimation and simulation error reporting
• Improved current study validation errors and warnings for users
• Improved Modal study results viewing experience
• We now list supported CAD file types in the upload screen
• Solve user tips are now shown on the results loading screen
• Use our Quick Guides to apply constraints and loads to parts
• Look and feel, icons, and text styling

May 13, 2021

OnScale Solve CFD

• The internal flow of single-phase fluids
• Imported geometry represents fluid volume, no need to invert a solid part
• Supports branching flow systems with multiple inlets/outlets
• Automated meshing with user-adjustable mesh element size to optimize cost
• Uses “Flow” and “Pressure” boundary conditions which support flow moving in and out of the boundary, no need to limit to inlet vs outlet
• Default fluids are air and water at standard temperature and pressure but density and viscosity can be modified to represent any Newtonian fluid

Why is it important to you? Our easy but powerful Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is perfect for analyzing flow in pipes and ducts, vascular flows, microfluidics, and related internal flow applications. It enables fast analysis of:
pressure drop vs flow rate; velocity distribution to see speedups and dead zones; volume and mass flow splits in branching systems; impact of fluid properties on results. It will support your design optimization by providing an insight into where pressure losses occur and can possibly be reduced, the ability to see regions of high vorticity/turbulence, and the ability to see flow separations.

OnScale Solve Modal Analysis

• Calculate the modes shapes to understand how your system deforms under dynamic excitation at its natural frequencies
• Get a list of all the natural frequencies that will make your system vibrate as the first output of a modal analysis

Why is it important to you? OnScale Solve produces easy-to-understand mode shapes to help you quickly paint a picture of the vibration characteristics of your project.

April 6, 2021

OnScale Portal

• Easy Single Sign-on for Solve and Portal Profile.
• Connect to 3rd party CAD tools like Onshape.
• At the Account Management level team leaders can now easily set core hour and HPC controls either globally or per user, and can also monitor core hour spending and allocation.
• Simulation Studies -> view studies / navigate directly to the specific study into Solve application.

OnScale Team Account Plan

• Share Projects with teammates, including simulation models, setup details, and results Internal flow of single-phase fluids.
• Imported geometry represents fluid volume, no need to invert a solid part.
• Supports branching flow systems with multiple inlets/outlets.

Why is it important to you? Collaborate with your team by easily sharing models and simulation results. Spend less time worrying about software license management and more time iterating on designs. Manage team profiles, payments, and core hours.

OnScale Solve Scripted Studies

• Simple and easy to understand Python syntax for model setup
• Access to advanced solver functions
• UI automatically updates to reflect the edited script

Why is it important to you? Build powerful, reusable, parametric scripts. Access advanced solver capabilities and other features not yet available in the UI!

OnScale has updated our Terms and Conditions
Updated Terms and Conditions can be found here.

March 31, 2021

Parameterized Material Properties

• Easily perform parameter sweeps over one or more material properties.
• Combine parameterized sweeps with parameterized loads.

Why is it important to you? You can use parameter sweeps to increase confidence in product performance analysis by representing and accounting for variability in material properties as well as applied loads.

Improved Automated Meshing

• Automated Meshing is now multi-threaded for improved speed while maintaining the same reliability and accuracy.
• Default meshes now conform to all geometric edges for better precision in applying loads and constraints.

Why is it important to you? OnScale’s automated, intelligent meshing generates higher quality meshes in a fraction of the time.

General Enhancements

• “Quick Guides” In-App Help for model setup
• Enable / Disable Physics to easily select whether to run Mechanical, Thermal or fully coupled Thermomechanical simulations
• Context-specific toolbars for simplified navigation – only Loads and Constraints appropriate to the enabled Physics are selectable
• Improvements and examples for custom post-processing using Jupyter Notebooks

Why is it important to you? We listen to your feedback every day and we’re working hard to improve the OnScale Solve user experience. Keep it coming!