Only available for

Available in: Assembly

Typically, simulation runs dynamically (in real time) in the user's active modeling session, responding to every change to an assembly or its parts. This behavior is ideal for quick, iterative design guidance. However, a different approach is required to analyze significant design milestones or conduct long-running analysis.

With Asynchronous Simulation, a user runs simulations independent of their active modeling session. Simulation results are permanently stored in a Results and history table in the Simulation panel. Simulation results display the status of all jobs in the queue, in progress, and completed.

Features include:

  • Compute simulations outside the active modeling session

  • Store simulation results for the entire life of the Document

  • Submit simulation studies from any document version by setting the following Assembly characteristics:

    • Variables (optional; if present)

    • Configuration (optional; if present)

    • Named position (required)

    • Simulation (required)

  • Clearly organize simulations in the Results and history table

  • Easily monitor progress or cancel jobs from the queue, or retrieve results from completed jobs

  • Launch up to 50 consecutive simulations per user for comparative analysis

  • Remove time restrictions from live simulation, useful for long-running analysis. A simulation only times out if the analysis runs longer than 24 hours.

  • Increase memory allocation relative to live simulation, useful for compute-intensive analysis. Live simulation uses 32 or 24 GB GPU scientific compute instances (depending on availability), whereas asynchronous simulation uses 128 or 64 GB CPU scientific compute instances (depending on availability).

This workflow assumes you have a completed CAD model in an Assembly tab, with the instances mated and the assembly sufficiently constrained, and a simulation properly defined:

Asynchronous simulation example

  1. Create at least one Named position for the Assembly.

  2. Optionally, create any variables required for the Assembly.

  3. Optionally, create any configurations required for the Assembly.

  4. Create a document version.

  5. From the History and version panel (Versions and history icon), select the version in which to run the simulation:

    Selecting a Document version

  6. In the Named positions panel (), right-click on the named position and select Apply named position:

    Applying a named position

  7. Optionally, select any variables or configurations for the Assembly in the left panel above the Instances list:

    Selecting a configuration from the left side panel

    Configuration selection from the left side panel

  8. In the same panel, select a simulation to run:

    Selecting a simulation from the left side panel

  9. Open the Simulation panel, click the Results and history tab, and click the Run active simulation button:

    Running an active simulation

    Clicking this button launches an Asynchronous simulation. It only appears in a Document version, and is deactivated if the user has reached their limit of 50 consecutive simulations or if the current Assembly state matches a previously-submitted Asynchronous simulation.

  10. The simulation results are displayed after the simulation is completed:

    simulation results

Each row in the Results and history table represents a simulation study. The columns are:

  • Simulation - Simulation name. This can be a Linear Static or Modal simulation type.

  • Status - State of the current simulation. Options are queuing (spinner), in progress (blue progress bar), completed (), or an error ().

  • Run date - When the Run active simulation button is clicked, the job is kicked off. This column displays Queuing while preprocessing steps are undertaken. After these steps, the column displays the date and time when the current simulation job starts running.

  • Version - Document version in which the current active simulation is run.

  • Configuration - Hovering over the column's configuration table icon () displays Not configured or a list of configuration settings if they are present, as a tooltip for the current active simulation run:

    Configuration selections

  • Named position - The applied Named position of the current active simulation run.

  • Type - Simulation type; either Linear static or Modal.

  • Solver version - Solver version used for the current Simulation run. As the solver is continually improved, new simulations may not match the results of previous ones.

Context menu options

  • Show setup - Displayed when the active simulation is in progress or has failed. Click this option to open the current simulation's setup (Active simulation, Named position, and Configuration).

    Results and History context menu options

  • Cancel simulation - Displayed when the active simulation is in progress. Click this option to cancel it.

  • Show results/Show results in a new browser tab - Similar to Show setup, these options are displayed when the simulation is completed. Click this option to open the current simulation's setup (Active simulation, Named position, and Configuration), even in a Document version, and displays  simulation results in the current tab or a new browser tab.

    Results and History context menu option Results and History context menu option

  • Rerun simulation - Displayed when right-clicking on a simulation that has failed (). Reruns the simulation.

    Rerun simulation context menu option

  • Simulations cannot be deleted. They are stored in the Results and history table at all times.

  • If the Assembly state does not exactly match a previously-completed Asynchronous simulation, clicking Show results in the left side Simulation panel runs a dynamic (real time) simulation. even if the simulation being run matches an incomplete Asynchronous simulation (either in queue or in process). These dynamic results are not stored.

    If the Assembly state exactly matches a previously-completed Asynchronous simulation, clicking Show results retrieves the results from a previous Asynchronous simulation in permanent storage and no new simulation is run.

    Clicking the Show results checkbox in the Simulations panel

  • Hovering over the Status column's progress bar displays the completion percentage of the active simulation's run:

    Status tooltip

  • In the event that a Simulation study is still waiting in queue, but the results are needed immediately, consider clicking Show Results or Show results in a new browser tab.

  • Though rare, if a simulation fails due to a system error and not an error in the setup or solve, consider canceling and resubmitting the job.