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As huge gatherings and crowds of people around the globe cheered on eve of 2020, the majority of the population likely could have never imagined what this year was about to bring. A global pandemic, where almost 4.2 billion people (54% of the world’s population), were subjected to mandatory complete or partial lockdowns as of the 28th of April. Even today, most countries are still adhering to some form of containment measures. 

While people took shelter indoors across the globe, new questions arose regarding the safety of these environments. How could people be sure their indoor environments were properly ventilated, and safer than the great outdoors, and fresh air? In government and public buildings that remained operational despite the pandemic (hospitals, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc.), how could mechanical or natural ventilation, proper airflow, good air quality, ambient temperature, and other thermal comfort parameters be measured and managed to ensure the safety of customers and front-line workers alike, as a life-threatening virus spread?

Indoor Occupant Safety & Thermal Comfort

In the wake of worldwide policy responses to the Coronavirus pandemic, SimScale joined the conversation, adding value to it’s customers with helpful topical resources: 

• Blog: The Importance of Ventilation Strategy Design for Mitigating COVID-19
• On-Demand Webinar: Simulate Ventilation for COVID Mitigation Strategies

These resources, of course, are only a few pieces of the puzzle when it comes to ensuring indoor occupant safety and comfort. Natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation are two dominating factors, and deciding which strategy to use for a particular design is crucial. Other examples of how cloud-based simulation ensures that designs of buildings and structures comply with recognized regulatory requirements can be found below: 

• ASHRAE 55: Defines thermal comfort as “that condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment”, and is used primarily in the United States but is well known around the world as the standard for designing, commissioning, and testing indoor spaces and systems written in parallel with other well known international standards.

• EN-15251: There are two main thermal comfort standards that specify how to evaluate indoor environments for occupants of commercial and residential buildings: ASHRAE 55 and EN 15251. These provide HVAC system engineers with a clear set of requirements to meet in order to ensure a sufficient level of indoor thermal comfort and determine the optimal design configuration. 

• ISO 7730: The ISO 7730 standards, derived from the calculation of the predictive mean vote (PMV) and the predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) index, circumscribes the acceptable range of thermal conditions for human occupancy.

However, at SimScale we don’t only think ‘inside the box’, or inside the indoor environment, so to speak. There’s a whole world outside that equally merits engineering simulation (more than ever) to comply with existing and future regulatory standards. Additionally, SimScale’s range of analysis types can serve designers looking to maintain the health of pedestrians and the thermal comfort of passersby in and around the built environment.

Engineering Safety in the Outdoor Thermal Comfort Zone

As more people get vaccinated the light at the end of the tunnel, and the hope for a gradual return to ‘normality, seems to be getting closer. From an anthropological viewpoint, similar to the behavior of moths to flames, humans are being drawn to outdoor spaces once again; with a force. Lowered restrictions have created an effect where the outdoors are increasingly seen as the NEW (and improved?) indoors.

What were house parties are now socially distanced picnics, what were dates at cozy cafes are now moonlit strolls under the stars. In the US, stand-up comics have even taken to performing at oft-forgotten drive-ins (remember the good old days?). As the ‘new normal’ seems to cast a sepia-colored homage to what life was like in the ’50s and ’60s, don’t fool yourself into thinking engineering has followed suit (you could say it has basically taken a U-turn in a 1957 Chevrolet from this societal pivot). But more on engineering advances later. 

This new norm encapsulates more than just a change in daily life and suggests an additional routine change. Euromonitor even predicts, “Businesses need to create their own outdoor oasis,” the report says. “Adaptation might become more complicated and costly depending on the weather, but open-air structures and heating and illumination systems will pay off due to heightened demand for safe venues and the aesthetic that could continue attracting consumers.” And this is just one report of the many theories/postulations of how humankind is re-claiming the outdoors for both business and leisure activities. 

With lockdowns finally letting up and the public returning outside, existing problems have resurfaced amongst new ones; namely maintaining outdoor pedestrian safety measures and outdoor thermal comfort in the confines of this new normal. Many companies are designing buildings and even cities that will undoubtedly face extra scrutiny over their ability to provide a healthy environment and proper ventilation, but also face questions around how these new builds will face and withstand adverse effects from climate change.

While engineering solutions mitigating viral spread will likely remain a lucrative facet of the industry for years to come, other pressing factors have and will continue to emerge. The need to reduce energy waste and carbon emissions has never been greater. Natural and passive environmental design features, therefore, become critical for complying with sustainability initiatives. Whether sustainable design practices are aimed at the indoor or outdoor environment (or heat island reduction), it can be assumed a time of great economic boom for manufacturing and engineering is upon us.

Looking at external environments, in particular, there are many parameters to be considered and optimized for sustainability, health and safety, and overall comfort. Outdoor comfort is influenced by environmental and more individually experienced physiological factors (i.e, temperature, humidity, wind, solar, a person’s activity [metabolic rate], and even their clothing [degree of insulation]). Engineers further define outdoor thermal comfort using the Universal Thermal Comfort Index (UTCI) that accounts for wind, solar radiation, temperature, and humidity to give an overall comfort score. The UTCI is an environmental physics construct that requires mathematical modeling and simulation to correctly calculate; not exactly a walk in the park.  With all of these factors to consider, complex mathematical modeling is needed to understand their behavior, and how they are further affected by and interact with the built environment and beyond.

Engineering Simulation to the Rescue

SimScale Provides Cloud Coverage for Both Internal and External Comfort Analysis Types

As the safety of people and the maintenance of thermal comfort both indoors and outdoors has now taken center stage for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector, how can engineers design, iterate, scale, and knock minutes off their time-to-market, to deliver solutions for their customers, and society at large?

 SimScale, the first-of-its-kind engineering simulation platform in the cloud, offers a solution. Our goal is to assist stand-alone professionals and companies in their process to create, iterate, and optimize the most innovative, safe, and sustainable designs that will, in turn, serve a greater purpose for mankind.

How, you ask? Through cloud-based CFD and FEA accessible from any web browser, with a range of solvers and unmatched scalability.  SimScale has created the world’s first cloud solution for engineering simulation, in an easy-to-use platform to help architects, designers, and engineers alike optimize designs for the world’s NEW built environment. Engineers must adapt and learn how to evaluate and go beyond their respective thermal comfort zone. No matter what the next years may bring, we predict the forecast will call for Cloud. 

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The post Step Outside of Your Thermal Comfort Zone With CFD appeared first on SimScale.

Not only is it the tallest church in the European continent, but also, the world. This is, of course, only until the eventual completion of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, which is planned to be finished standing 170 m off the ground. Until then, this world-record breaking structure is located in Ulm, a short 150 km and around 1.5-hour drive from our SimScale headquarters in Munich. As pedestrian wind comfort is one of our top areas of expertise, we couldn’t help but begin to think, what is the wind comfort assessment around the Ulm Minster? 

Above and Around The World’s Tallest Church

This curiosity was further inspired when we found out one of our own Simployees was born and raised in Baden-Württemberg. Our Munich-based recruiter, Lisa Widmann, frequents her home in Ulm on occasion, and on a recent visit partook in a hot air balloon ride above and around the impressive church (pictured below). 

“Ulm has always been quite a unique town for me, on one hand, because it’s where I grew up, on the other hand, because the Ulmer Münster with its gothic architecture is the tallest church in the world. Driving to Ulm and walking through the city, you just can’t miss this impressive church. I have walked all the way up to the tiny tower multiple times, and am still impressed with the height every time. Even with the wind blowing around you at the very top, it still offers the most impressive view over the city. Although you always seem to have the wind following you as you are approaching the Ulmer Münster, you really can’t help but pause for a minute and enjoy the impressive height.”

Lisa Widmann

Upon learning about this, we expanded our questioning about wind comfort at pedestrian height to include higher points above the ground, namely the observation platforms. And with this, we began simulating. 

Simulating the Ulm Minster (Ulmer Münster)

The idea behind this project is to get a sense of the impact this very tall church (compared to the surrounding buildings) has on the wind at high altitude, as well as what the pedestrian could experience in terms of comfort at ground-level. The type of solver for this pedestrian wind comfort project uses the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM).

Using the topography from CADMapper, a 3D model of the Ulm church was then added. Importing is simply a drag and drop operation to the browser window. The setup takes around five minutes, and consists of three simple steps: 

• Step one: Define the region of interest; a circle of 200m around the church and indicate the north direction.

• Step two: Supply the wind condition information, including the number of wind directions to run simultaneously, as well as the magnitude and frequency at each of these directions. This can be either automatically imported wind rose form our third-party provider “meteoblue” or uploaded using a  windrose “.stat” file. 

What Causes Strong Winds in Cities? Assessing Pedestrian Comfort with SimScale

• Step three: Lastly, assign the surfaces and height on which we want to evaluate the comfort of pedestrians (i.e., the ground surface and the different platforms of the towers). Optionally, you can define the resolution of the grid of the computational domain for better accuracy of the results.

After running our first simulation, it was found that the wind comfort is worse on the observation platform, and particularly the one at the tip of the belfry (known as the third Gallery, as it is a tall, spiraling staircase that has barely enough room for one person). Upon entering the winding staircase to the viewing platform situated 143 m (469 ft) above ground-level, the visitors are exposed to the strong higher altitude wind, coming directly on the façade of the structure. Such higher wind speeds are responsible for such low wind comfort. Hold onto your hats folks, it’s pretty windy up there!

The wind comfort around the immediate vicinity of the church is visibly less than on the side streets. To understand why this is happening, it is necessary to take into consideration the difference when compared to some altitude(s), and have a look at what is going on at the wind that comes against the building façade. The animation below shows a situation where the wind comes from the west and hits the main façade of the church perpendicularly. The streamlines represent the trajectory of the airflow. As the airflow reaches the wall, it is redirected to downward and picks up speed along the ground. This wind effect is known as the downdraft effect. On top of that, we can also observe that the flow accelerates as it reaches the corner of the building. This is the cornering effect, and it is also responsible for worsening wind comfort for the passersby.

The LBM solver used for this analysis computes the airflow velocity, pressure, and turbulence values in a transient way, and this enables the visualization of time-fluctuating results. The airflow distribution can be plotted over time, as shown in the animation below. With this kind of result, one can identify time-dependent phenomena such as local gusting, as well as vortex formations. The transient velocity contour shows once again the downdraft effect in front of the lower part of the façade. One can observe highly turbulent flow in the wake region of the building, with air accelerating periodically as it passes between the two secondary towers at the rear of the building.

Conclusion 

In this small project, we could identify that the wind comfort around the church is adversely affected by a downdraft effect generated by the tall façade of the structure. The results show, for one instance, that with a wind coming from the west against the main façade, causes the airflow to be redirected downward, gaining speed as it reaches the ground and the corner of the structure. This causes accelerated wind speeds that will be felt by pedestrians and passersby. 

On top of that, we have seen that other surfaces and areas frequented by tourists, such as the observation platform on the tower can also be analyzed for wind comfort, and some overexposed areas that could potentially jeopardize the safety of the visitors highlighted. 

With many visitors per year flocking to Ulm to see the mighty church tower, it’s safe to say pedestrian wind comfort may not always be optimal due to the urban environment’s effect on wind passing through the city, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem for Ulm’s tourism. 

Want to learn more about pedestrian wind comfort assessment with SimScale? Check out these PWC resources: 

• Boston Waterfront Weather & Pedestrian Wind Comfort
• How to Analyze Pedestrian Wind Comfort with SimScale
• Wind Comfort Criteria: Lawson, Davenport, and NEN 8100
• Lawson Wind Comfort Criteria: A Closer Look
• Pedestrian Wind Comfort Analysis Type 

Interested in seeing how PWC is done? Watch these videos from our SimScale YouTube channel: 

• Flatiron Building Simulation | Pedestrian Wind Comfort
• Pressure Coefficients on Building Facades for Building Simulation
• How to Model Trees with Porous Media — Pedestrian Wind Comfort with SimScale 
• SimScale Feature: Multi-Direction Pedestrian Wind Comfort Analysis

The post Pedestrian Wind Comfort Around the World’s Tallest Church: Ulm Minster appeared first on SimScale.

In this article, we will explore the differences between cloud-native and cloud-enabled applications and offerings, highlighting how this subtle differentiation can greatly impact time, cost savings, and efficiency for your company’s operations, as well as which solution offers the greatest amount of flexibility and adaptability in the current dynamic and quickly changing economic environment. 

What Does ‘Cloud-Native’ Mean?

All cloud-native applications are indigenous to the cloud, meaning they are only built for and deployed within the cloud environment (without ever stepping foot on the ground!). On a more technical note, these types of applications harness the true power of cloud infrastructure and are hosted as multi-tenant instances (microservice architecture) composed of many different independent modules. So what does this mean? 

Characteristics of Cloud-Native Applications:

• Cloud-native applications are innately adaptable and scalable, as modifications can be identified, made, and released to individual modules within the cloud environment in real-time without interrupting the processes of the entire operation/application. This applies to everything from debugging a problem to rolling out new features and regular maintenance and updates. 

• Cloud-native applications require no large hardware or software investments, as opposed to on-premises solutions, and are generally available via a license/subscription plan that can be activated in minutes. Adding additional users is typically inexpensive, software updates and the maintenance fees are also avoided, and therefore, cloud-native applications tend to be more cost-effective. 

• These types of applications are known for incurring huge time savings, due to the fact that they are easily and quickly implemented as there is no need for aforementioned hardware or software configurations.

Now that we have established what cloud-native applications are and what you can expect from them, let’s discuss the other side of cloud-based tools; cloud-enabled applications.

This paper addresses the difference between on-premises software and SaaS
solutions for computer-aided engineering, explaining how SaaS came to be and its
key benefits.

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What Is a Cloud-Enabled Application?

Cloud-enabled differ from cloud-native applications in one crucial way; instead of being created based on cloud-native architecture/microservice architecture, they are created using legacy infrastructure systems. Think of it this way: cloud-native applications consist of modules that have been written with a service-based architecture in mind from the get-go, whereas cloud-enabled applications are created by taking existing software (for example on-premises and desktop applications) and enabling them in some way to utilize cloud computing resources.

Characteristics of Cloud-Enabled Applications:

• Cloud-enabled applications are typically run in-house or using legacy infrastructure, potentially negatively affecting the adaptability and flexibility of these applications because updates and upgrades made to one module could interfere with the entire system.  

• Due to their base infrastructure, these types of applications also require and rely on manual upgrades causing disruption and shutdown to the whole application, negatively impacting resources for companies such as time, money, and efficiency. 

• Cloud-enabled applications typically incur higher costs, as they require more man-hours from the offering company to accommodate the changing requirements. These applications must be customized for the specific installation environment, and are not a one-size-fits-all solution in most cases. 

Cloud-enabled applications are essentially like hybrid cars; boasting some of the same features as fully electric vehicles, or in our case cloud-native applications, but by no means their equivalent. In short, cloud-enabled applications tend to lack the time-savings, cost efficiency, and broad adaptability that their cloud-native counterparts can offer to SMEs and large enterprises alike. 

Cloud-Native vs. Cloud-Enabled Conclusions 

In the wake of digital transformation, it is clear that the future belongs to cloud-native applications. According to IDC, by 2022, 90% of all new apps brought to market will feature microservices architectures that improve the ability to design, debug, update, and leverage third-party code; 35% of all production apps will be cloud-native. 

This estimation parallels the prevalent changing needs of modern firms;  a paradigm shift towards tailor-made cloud applications that are readily adaptable and customizable as and per changing projects and cases. With cloud-native architecture at their disposal, enterprises can have an increased concentration on their strategic needs, thus tapping the best of available business opportunities for further growth and success.

Here at SimScale, we offer the first truly cloud-native simulation platform covering CFD, FEA, and thermodynamics evaluation. While many other tools still struggle with adopting the cloud, SimScale is already based on a fully scalable microservice architecture, allowing adaptability, time and cost-savings, as well as collaboration capabilities for our customers.  Whether users are new or old to simulation, SimScale’s platform will not only meet current needs, but will adapt to meet future needs as they arise. 

Interested in learning more about cloud-native software benefits with SimScale? Look no further: 

• Simulation in the Cloud: Tips for a Seamless Migration
• Cloud Migration in 2020: The New Digital Workplace
• The Past, Present, and Future of Cloud Computing and CFD
• SimScale Announces Cloud-Based Collaboration Features
• How to Use Cloud-Based CAD & CFD to Optimize Your Design
• How to Run Non-Cloud Native Services in the Cloud

The post Cloud-Native Applications vs. Non-Native Cloud Offerings appeared first on SimScale.

In this article, we will elaborate on this topic, from the evolution of evaluating thermal management, to how cloud-based thermal analysis is making a real difference for engineers; all from the perspective of our customers.

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solutions for computer-aided engineering, explaining how SaaS came to be and its
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The Early Evolution of Evaluating Thermal Management: Prototypes

Recently, some of the SimScale team sat down (virtually) with David McCall, an experienced engineering & product design professional, and former senior mechanical engineer at QRC Technologies. David discussed with our team his career, mechanical engineering, CAD to CAE, and the future of product design while evaluating the role of cloud-based simulation. 

One consistent topic that could be picked out in the podcast was how thermal analysis for product design had changed over the course of David’s career, from a time when David experienced  resource-wasting and cost-effective prototyping as the sole evaluation path, to now the existence of online and cloud-based simulation platforms, like SimScale. While David firmly believes nothing will ever entirely replace physical prototyping, especially with 3D printing innovations happening in this industry, he does believe the continued evolution of thermal management practices will continue on an increasingly virtual and cloud-based trajectory.

How Cloud-Based Simulation Is a Game Changer for Thermal Management 

The SimScale team then virtually interviewed OnLogic’s Erick Kopff, another engineering professional with a shorter career span compared to David’s, but a focused experience in thermal management of electronics. In this podcast, Erick explained his experience with CAD and cloud-based CFD tools, as well as how SimScale’s online simulation platform is a near perfect fit for his team’s fast and agile design process.

As COVID-19 has affected nearly all businesses worldwide, the engineering sector was no different, and many engineers had to make the switch, many for the first time, to home office. With on-premises evaluation and simulation tools being very common across this industry, OnLogic benefited from having a cloud-based thermal management tool in their virtual toolbelt. With cloud-based tools, such as SimScale, gaining momentum, the evolution of thermal management seems to be reaching for the stars, and landing amidst the cloud.

Thermal Analysis In the Cloud: SimScale Electronics Cooling Case Studies 

For more information on the companies that have successfully made the switch to cloud-based thermal management evaluation, check out these case studies: 

• OnLogic Improved Their Design Time Through Cloud-Based Simulation From SimScale
• Bold Valuable Technology Made the Switch to Cloud-Based Simulation for Battery Cooling with SimScale
• Spark Used Simscale To Assess the Performance of Their MIRA Camera 
• QRC Technologies Prevented Thermal Damage in Its Electronics Design With SimScale

The post The Evolution of Evaluating Thermal Management: SimScale Customer Spotlight appeared first on SimScale.

Yet, in order for these vehicles to enter the newly competitive electric transportation market, one thing above all is essential: Electric vehicles of all shapes and sizes need an efficient battery thermal management system in order to mature from ‘prototype’ to an actual manufactured product. 

To find out more about the technical details of our new CHT solver, download and read the white paper below:

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What Is Battery Thermal Management?

All main performance indicators of batteries, for any device or application, heavily depend on temperature during operation. This includes, among others, battery lifespan, capacity, and discharge rate. Under most operating conditions, keeping the battery pack within a desired temperature range requires an efficient battery cooling system that can involve air cooling, liquid cooling, thermoelectric material cooling or combinations of such. To read about more thermal cooling mechanisms, check out this article. 

As these performance factors become more competitive as the electric vehicle market, in turn, becomes more saturated, a faster and more efficient method of evaluating and iterating battery cooling designs has followed suit; cloud-based simulation. 

Battery Cooling for Electric Vehicles With CAE

Many of the above mentioned battery performance indicators directly influence key product features of a wide range of electric vehicles. The designs of these specific and fossil-fuel-eliminating types of vehicles have come a long way, and will continue to not only change in design, but the face of the world as we know it.

Picture a racetrack, but instead of classic race cars, electric-powered vehicles. The whole industry is competing in a race for longer ranges and faster charging times for their respective vehicles. While range limitations are obviously dominated by battery capacity and should remain high over the whole lifespan of the product, battery charge and discharge performance does not only influence charging times but also dictates acceleration performance. Hence, getting the battery thermal management system (BTMS) right is decisive for staying competitive in a fast-growing dynamic market.

The following case study explains how cloud-based simulation, using SimScale, is an invaluable tool for this task, as well as the overarching electric vehicle market.

Our Case: Bold Valuable Technology 

One of our customers, Bold Valuable Technology, recently made the switch to cloud-based simulation for one of their new battery cooling designs. This particular project concerned developing a battery for a high-end electric motor sport series.

“The difficulties in accurately predicting the thermal behavior and pumping losses in the cooling system were only possible to tackle using CFD tools. The main advantage we find in simulation is the speed at which we can try different ideas and design parameters. The post-processing tools allow us to understand the behavior of the system so our engineers can come up with improvements or discover issues before building prototypes.” 

Bernat Carreras, Director at Bold Valuable Technology

In order to achieve the needed results, the team wanted to evaluate their various design iterations in parallel, which is only possible through a cloud-based CFD solution. Bold ran over 100 simulations, averaging 30 core hours per runtime. They were able to gather a plethora of results, including: internal cell gradients using cutting planes, max and min cell temperatures, coolant flow streamlines, pressure drop between inlet and outlet as well as coolant temperature gradient between inlet and outlet. The outlet fluid temperature was used as a monitor for evaluating the simulation’s convergence.

Bold was able to use the plots directly from SimScale for reporting. They were also able to export the output file to analyze it further in third-party software, in order to calculate even more parameters. SimScale brought Bold a cost-effective solution by reducing the number of experimental tests needed for the project. Furthermore, it removed limitations such as the number of cores available, and enabled the possibility of having different users working remotely at any moment.

To learn more about Bold Valuable’s experience with cloud-based simulation for electric vehicle battery cooling, read their case study here. 

Battery Thermal Management: Conclusion 

Using cloud-based simulation, battery cooling designs for electronic vehicles—from cars to motorsport devices—can be iterated, optimized, and ultimately completed in a fast, cost-effective, and low-resource fashion.

To learn more about how to use SimScale for your battery cooling, or electronics cooling designs, check out the resources listed below: 

• Battery Cooling: Challenges & Solutions
• Thermal Management: Lighting, Battery, and Enclosure Cooling Projects
• Electronics Cooling Project: LED Spotlight
• 5 Ready-To-Use Electronics Cooling Simulation Templates

The post Cloud-Based Battery Thermal Management for Electric Vehicles appeared first on SimScale.

The heat transfer resulting from the number of humans in an occupied space then creates a temperature difference. If the indoor space is too cold, the human body will output more energy than if the space is warmer (or closer to the average human body temperature). Nevertheless, extremes of either spectrum lead to occupant discomfort. Therefore, one of the chief roles of HVAC and building design engineers alike is to maintain an acceptable level of thermal comfort within their designs. Current internationally recognized standards for this include EN 1678-1:2019, ASHRAE 55, and ISO 7730. 

Up until now, this process could only be done through long and drawn out calculations, or, even more recently, desktop/on-premises CAE software. However, today, another solution is gaining momentum; cloud-based CAE platforms. As BIM software modernizes, CAE online software has followed suit. In this article, the benefits of modernizing your thermal comfort evaluation method will be assessed using two case studies from engineering teams that made the switch to cloud-based solutions.

Modernizing Your Thermal Comfort Evaluation Process 

In order to keep up with the latest standards for thermal comfort, no matter what country you live or work in, cloud-based solutions should be considered. Using cloud-based simulation instead of on-premises solutions for this process has many benefits including but not limited to: 

• Time-saving and shorter design cycles 
• Cost-effectiveness 
• The possibility for further connectivity/collaboration in the future with other BIM/HVAC modelling tools for even more optimization

However, we don’t expect you to just take our word for it. In this recent podcast, Gruner Roschi AG’s David Akeret speaks about the future of cloud-enabled connectivity and CAE compatibility among other benefits of online simulation. 

Gruner Roschi AG Case Study: How They Determined the Best Architectural/HVAC Solution Through Parallel Processing With SimScale

Operating for nearly 50 years, Gruner Roschi AG is an industry leader in the construction sector in Switzerland. Gruner Roschi AG, as a part of Gruner AG, specializes in HVAC engineering and building performance simulation.

In this customer success story, Gruner simulated four HVAC designs in parallel, gaining results in less than a day, ultimately determining the best natural cross-ventilation for a room for a given design. The chief engineer on the project, David Akeret, explained, 

“Working with SimScale gave us the possibility to inspect which of the architectural and technical solutions works the best way and give us certainty about our decisions. One other big factor is the speed in which SimScale can deliver results, through its great parallelization capacity. Without SimScale, we wouldn’t be able to deliver high-quality results in the required time period.”

David Akeret
VCD Specialist

To hear more from David and his team’s experience with SimScale, check out this podcast. 

Ingenieurburo Gratzl Case Study: How They Used Cloud-Based CFD as a Cost-Effective Alternative for Building Optimization

Ingenieurbüro Gratzl specializes in simulation methods for building physics. The chief focus of founder Markus Gratzl’s work is to aid building planners (architects, HVAC engineers, etc.) to improve their buildings and systems in terms of energy efficiency and thermal comfort.

The case study follows a project Markus was working on for Athlan Quarter, to assess the thermal comfort of the grand entrance hall of a former university building. Through cloud-based CFD simulation using SimScale, Markus was able to quickly obtain results, and can now take on more cases than ever before possible with other simulation solutions. He states:

“SimScale gives me, for the first time as a small specialized engineering office, the possibility to use CFD simulations for building optimization. Other software packages cause much too high investment costs for hardware and software.”

Markus Gratzl
Expert in the field of Green Building Simulation and owner of Ingenieurbüro Gratzl, professor for “Simulation Methods in Building Physics” on Salzburg University of Applied Sciences

To hear more from Markus and his experience with cloud-based CAE, stay tuned for his podcast coming soon. 

Conclusion 

Cloud-based simulation has benefited our engineers by providing a fast, cost-effective, and low-maintenance solution that keeps up with current trends and standards within their respective industries. To learn more about how SimScale can be utilized in your thermal comfort evaluation and design workflow, check our thermal comfort documentation, providing everything from how-to guides to validation cases, as well as our plethora of video tutorials to get you started today. 

This paper addresses the difference between on-premises software and SaaS
solutions for computer-aided engineering, explaining how SaaS came to be and its
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Interested in reading more about thermal comfort evaluation and validation using cloud-based simulation? Check out a few of our resources: 

• What Is PMV? What Is PPD? The Basics of Thermal Comfort
• What Is ASHRAE 55? Basics of Thermal Comfort
• Indoor Thermal Standards: What’s The Difference Between ASHRAE 55 AND ISO 7730?
• What Is EN 16798-1:2019? Basics of Thermal Comfort
• Radiation and Thermal Comfort for Indoor Spaces
• Thermal Comfort and Radiation with SimScale
• Thermal Comfort, Kitchen Ventilation & Convective Heat Transfer

The post How to Modernize Your Thermal Comfort Evaluation Process appeared first on SimScale.

However, cloud-based CAE software is taking more and more market share as globalization, higher competition, and agile working environments increase in parallel. In this blog, we will take a comparative look at both types of CAE software, and what this could mean moving forward for engineers.

On-Premises CAE Software

So what do we mean by on-premises CAE software? Essentially, this refers to all simulation software that supports and enables engineering analysis tasks from a stationary workplace, i.e. desktop computer. CAE software can encompass everything from finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), multibody dynamics (MDB), and thermodynamics to include further optimization capabilities and features. CAE software enables engineers to simulate, validate, and optimize products and manufacturing tools. The top CAE software solutions, including on-premises and cloud-based as announced by g2.com, include MATLAB, Fusion 360 Simulink, NI Multisim, SimScale, Abaqus, Solid Edge, etc., in no particular order. 

Industry-standard CAE software solutions run using on-premises infrastructure. Without a background in engineering simulation or supporting IT infrastructure/staff, this setup can prove to be troublesome. Digging deeper, there are high fixed costs for purchasing hardware that is required for an on-premises tool. Secondly, maintenance, hardware upgrades, and energy consumption need to be considered. Lastly, this forces users into a specific setup—it is not easy to adapt resources to changing demands, with often even software licenses being dependent on cluster size. On-premises CAE software historically also has a steep learning curve before employees are able to run simulations and ensure maintenance and data management.

On-premises software refers solely to the programs that need to be installed on local hardware and devices for engineering and consulting businesses. In these cases, the stakeholder or team will typically purchase a licensing module that shares the purchased license credits to the most active users, including a maximum limit of parallel jobs, and unfortunately sometimes creating a bottleneck at peak times that can slow overall time-to-delivery.

While these types of software boast optimized user-friendliness and simulation workflow, this customarily comes at a price; costs for commercial CAE packages can range from $10,000 to $50,000+ per workstation. Extending your simulation capabilities to utilize a larger amount of cores will further increase the budget required, making the turnaround time more expensive.

Cloud-based CAE, on the other hand, can be run by professionals in every facet of industry without a background in HPC systems or engineering simulation, has more flexible pricing structures, allows an infinite number of parallel jobs eliminating workflow jams, and was created to ultimately optimize what on-premises software has been doing for decades before. SaaS solutions fill this growing untapped potential for on-demand engineering simulation capabilities by leveraging the performance and scalability of HPC systems in the cloud and eliminating high upfront costs and other outdated pricing models.

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What Is SaaS? 

Software as a Service, also known as SaaS, is a cloud-based service where instead of downloading and installing software from your desktop PC or business network to run and update manually, you alternatively enter an application via an Internet browser. 

The subscription-based software application could be anything from office software to unified communications among a wide range of other business apps that are available, as well as CAE. SaaS has essentially changed the landscape for software, through harnessing the power of the Cloud. Yet, that’s not to say it doesn’t come without some drawbacks. The largest issue users can note about SaaS products is that they require an Internet connection to operate. Of course, without the Internet, one cannot run a simulation on the cloud, while in an airplane (in the clouds).

However, the increasingly wide availability of broadband and high-speed phone networks such as 5G makes this less of an issue. Today, there is almost nowhere you can go that does not offer WiFi or some rendition of Internet access. Additionally, some SaaS applications have combatted this issue by offering offline modes that allow basic functionality, for example, Google Docs.

Benefits of SaaS Tools

Key benefits of SaaS cover accessibility, compatibility, and operational management. SaaS models allow lower upfront investments than traditional software download and installation, making them more affordable and by proxy available to a wider range of individual users and businesses alike, making it easier for smaller companies to disrupt existing markets.

The most commonly cited benefit of SaaS products is accessibility. All SaaS applications can be run via a web browser, regardless of the operating system. This brings a level of versatility never before seen in standard desktop-based software, as not only does it mean users of Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems can coexist on the same cloud-based platform, but it allows users to access their data across different devices, whether it be a desktop PC, laptop, tablet, or combination. Let’s look at some other key advantage areas.

Updates and maintenance: Another major advantage of SaaS is that because they run in the cloud, the provider can update its software centrally without negatively affecting business operations for its users. This is an innate difference to desktop-based or on-premise CAE simulation software that will often require a degree of compatibility and endpoint security.

Data and analytics: Companies using SaaS products normally have access to reporting and intelligence tools and visualizations that can give invaluable insights into operations, allowing workflow streamlining and optimization. Since access depends on a paid subscription, vendors can sleep soundly with no concerns about piracy which might otherwise cost the supplier, thereby damaging both access and pricing models. 

Saving and storage: On-premise storage of data requires heavy investment in reliable backups such as through online cloud storage in order to mitigate hardware crashes that might otherwise cause a significant loss of data. SaaS, on the other hand, routinely saves data in the cloud automatically. Through the cloud, employees from all over the globe can access information, as well as switch between devices without losing work or data, by logging into a single account, regardless of which device is being used. With CAE simulation software specifically, this saves a lot of headaches.

Market reach: For the providers of SaaS, this refers to being able to supply a software service to the majority of the respective market, instead of just a limited and targeted market segment. Pricing plans can be offered at cheaper prices, and make software options more accessible to businesses of every size. For users this implies being able to reach services not commonly available, thus both expanding and enhancing business services, productivity, and endless opportunities.

SaaS and CAE Simulation

Now that you are familiar with the key similarities and differences between on-premises and SaaS, it is helpful to keep this six-point checklist in mind when considering CAE, and more specifically CAE simulation tools. 

1.  What is the cost of hardware needed?
2. What will the annual renewal costs be?
3.  What training time is required to learn the tool?
4. What time is required to see and track project statuses?
5.  What is the opportunity cost of working sequentially versus in parallel?
6.  Will the tool be difficult to scale?

Using this checklist, you can easily compare the benefits of different types of software in-line with the needs of your engineering team, to ultimately choose the most efficient and cost-effective CAE software solution for you!  

Interested in learning more about how cloud-based CAE simulation could increase your team’s time-to-delivery and optimize your iterative design process? Check out some of these recent blog articles: 

• 3 Things to Consider as Your Engineering Team Grows
• Simulation in the Cloud: Tips for a Seamless Migration
• 3 Places Where Your Design Process Is Slowing Your Time to Delivery
• Cloud Migration in 2020: The New Digital Workplace

The post On-Premises vs. SaaS CAE Simulation: A Comparative Look appeared first on SimScale.

Through cloud-based communication and collaboration tools, maintaining and hiring remote workers is easier than ever before. Yet, this comes with its own unique challenges for engineering teams. Technological advances have largely facilitated this growth, meaning that every engineering team from a large multinational organization to a small or mid-sized startup is able to hire the best candidates for the roles. 

No longer can teams work in standard confines. They are expected to work beyond project silos, time zones, and physical location to meet strict deadlines. So how can your team meet these modern demands while also battling its way through competition? By growing and scaling as an engineering team. Although, this solution alone will not help teams stay competitive. 

Even the best units need to find the right tools, workflows, and processes that keep feedback rounds and teamwork running for their specific needs. Once this is determined, engineering units have a better shot at warding off competition, winning, meeting deadlines, and ultimately being successful. Yet, one poignant question still remains; how can you achieve this while scaling and growing your team? In this article, we will provide 3 crucial considerations for managers or directors thinking about or currently in the process of scaling up their engineering teams. 

This paper addresses the difference between on-premises software and SaaS
solutions for computer-aided engineering, explaining how SaaS came to be and its
key benefits.

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First Consideration: Build Momentum 

Momentum, put simply, is one way to quantify movement of some description. When momentum is first sparked, everything on your team’s to-do list starts to move toward completion, team and business goals are met, and customers, as well as employees alike, are happy and satisfied with the progress. When you find yourself in a burst of momentum, everything seems to go right, and teams feel excited about what else they can accomplish collaboratively. So how can you create this force of motion, and more importantly, keep it going? 

Let’s start by looking at the key characteristics you can plainly see if a team is lacking momentum. This would include, but is not limited to, a lack of urgency, apathetic feelings, or a palpable lazy and even pessimistic attitude. How do you get your existing engineering team back on track from here? By winning. 

A win, whether it be in business or sports, lights the match for motivation, which then ignites momentum. Let’s revisit some grade school physics, particularly Newton’s first law of motion, to guess what happens next. To paraphrase, something in motion will stay in motion until a force acts upon it. This is the same for winning, in that there is a snowball effect that occurs. Wins lead to team motivation and momentum, that in turn lead to more wins. 

However, this ‘winning equals momentum attitude’ is only easy in practice if you’re team is relatively small and manageable, operating within the same office, and clear communication channels are in place. In 2020, we rarely find that this is the case. With more and more employees working remotely, technological advances, cloud-based infrastructures allowing teams to internationalize and have employees across the globe, and the rise of numerous integrated communication tools, it’s hard to manage the aforementioned variables. Therefore, engineering teams need to make sure they have a predefined method involving 1) how to share wins and 2) sustaining the visibility of wins. This has led to a rise in the need for collaboration tools and features, in addition to software and platforms already in use by companies. Yet, even with the right tools, the right people on your team make even more of a difference.   

Second Consideration: Hire the Right People for Your Team 

Building and maintaining momentum is only efficient if you have the right team responding to it. Despite being an innately difficult task, it becomes an even more complex challenge as you grow your engineering team. So what do we look for, at SimScale, when hiring engineers? Or any team for that matter? Let’s refer to our company values:  

Hiring the right engineers for your company is a challenging task, however, you should make the qualities you’re looking for beyond the qualifications clear in your values or mission statement, as shown in the above picture. This way, you can make it explicitly clear what you are looking for, while implicitly asking for specific candidate attributes. 

But, don’t just take our word for it, Let’s look at another company’s engineering hiring strategy. In this article written by Hotjar, they explain that when looking for engineers, the qualities they seek most are; Open-minded team players, skills that exceed their own, strong communication skills, someone with a low ego but high self-esteem, and ruthless prioritization and pragmatism. These traits are reflected in their ‘generic hiring attributes’ as well: 

Any engineering team today must fulfill the following qualifications; the ability to adapt even in ambiguous situations, the ability to experiment, iterate, and innovate, and ultimately the ability to converge towards the same, and best, solution for the problem at hand. Individuals that make up this team must, in turn, be self-driven but able to work in a team, curious, and agile, in addition to their technical ability. 

We are no longer living in the days where a degree in engineering is enough, the competitive landscape for this field is now saturated, and this is a key consideration for hiring as you grow your team. So the next question is, what do you do once you have sourced appropriate candidates to grow your team? 

Third Consideration: Improve Execution Efficiency 

If you can visualize these considerations as ingredients for a recipe, when added along with the first two ingredients, improving execution efficiency is the final ingredient that brings the whole mixture together. Once you’ve established momentum with new and existing team members, it’s time to rethink your execution process. Things have changed, there are more cooks in the kitchen (so to speak…) and old strategies and design processes must be optimized to improve your overall time to delivery. 

Where do you start? Good question. Depending on your workflow, there are numerous places to look. Maybe look where it hurts, first? More generally, look to revamp your infrastructure, software, tools, etc., that together facilitate your team’s project execution from start to finish. 

No longer can engineering teams be bound by project silos, time zones, or physical locations to meet demanding deadlines. So how can engineers use this to their advantage?

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In this recent article about how to improve your design process, advice is given on how to tackle time management, how to test new technology options available to you, how to improve and remove parts of your current design process, how to improve your task management style, and finally how to take advantage of collaboration, and cloud-based collaboration tools, that are accessible to you. 

Once you’ve started the improvement process, you’ll probably notice one area in particular that can always be improved upon; communication. Engineering teams, especially growing ones, need to be able to quickly flag issues and communicate with all team members near and far instantaneously. This also corresponds with the first consideration of momentum. 

Luckily, through cloud-based collaboration tools, implementing this open channel of communication is easier than ever before, however, it requires the team lead or manager to enforce it. At SimScale, we’ve unveiled collaboration features within our platform to help facilitate this among our customers and users. We really practice what we preach! 

Conclusion 

Grow and scale your engineering team through building and maintaining momentum, with the right people by your side or a few clicks of your keyboard away, and the right tools to execute your projects effectively, ultimately allowing you to win more! 

The post 3 Things to Consider as Your Engineering Team Grows appeared first on SimScale.

These products, including electronic devices, data centers, avionics, and even hybrid vehicle designs, to name a few, all encounter ‘high-flux’ heat dissipation, which can have disastrous results if the employed thermal management strategy is not thoroughly vetted.  In order to prevent this, designs require rigorous evaluation over an iterative design process before moving on to the next stage of the production cycle. 

Yet, as the marketplace becomes more and more saturated with competing products, companies, and innovations, engineers may struggle to keep pace if design testing is limited to later stages, often due to desktop-based simulation limitations when it comes to thermal management. 

Luckily, SimScale’s cloud-based simulation platform is available to help engineers who need to speed up their design process, need to meet strict deadlines or who are looking to benefit from the advantages of having a non-premise-based and collaborative online simulation tool. 

In this article, we will explore three electronics cooling cases, including battery cooling, lighting cooling, and enclosure cooling, and show how SimScale can help engineers working on thermal management applications be more effective and efficient.

Learn how iGas Technologies shortened their cooling system design time with SimScale; Thermal management in 5 minutes or less.

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Thermal Management: Battery Cooling

One prime example where battery thermal management is needed is electric vehicles, from scooters to cars, as they require big batteries in order to operate and store energy. The energy source going into the battery pack as it is charged is measured by two variables; electrical current and voltage. The distinct flow path of the current causes heating in the battery cells, where the higher the current, the more the heating effect will be; meaning more potential for component overheating, and more need for thermal management. 

In a recent post from Hunt et al from Imperial University it was found that not only the temperature but also the cooling method is critical to preserve the performance of the cells over their lifetime. Historically, the largest battery packs did not really need any specialized cooling strategy, as the physical size of the packs were sufficient in displacing the heat on their own in comparison to the flow of the current. Today, faster and faster battery charging rates are demanded, as the surge of electric vehicles continues to take to the streets across the globe, with parameters such as a recharge power of over 200kW to deliver times of 30 minutes or less. 

While this example only speaks to the electric vehicle market, battery cooling is an essential strategy for electronics as a whole. Higher performance, consistency, and adequate durability in global markets has meant that specialized thermal management strategies for battery packs are the new normal. So how can you evaluate your cooling method quickly and efficiently? We are glad you asked. 

Bold Battery Thermal Validation Through Cloud-Based Simulation 

At SimScale, Bold Valuable Technology recently embarked on a new project that focused on creating a new battery design for an electric motorsport series. Integrating an effective and functional cooling system was an innately important part of the task.

“The difficulties in accurately predicting the thermal behavior and pumping losses in the cooling system were only possible to tackle using CFD tools. The main advantage we find in simulation is the speed at which we can try different ideas and design parameters. The post-processing tools allow us to understand the behavior of the system so our engineers can come up with improvements or discover issues before building prototypes.” Bernat Carreras, Director at Bold Valuable Technology

After obtaining desired results and a successful simulation experience, Bold Valuable Technology plans to expand on their use of online simulation with more detailed models to better predict the thermal behavior of their cooling systems. Read more about their battery cooling evaluation experience here. 

However, it’s not only electronics cooling experts that can benefit from SimScale. Beginners can start simulating their electronics cooling designs even without a finalized design by simply copying one of our existing thermal management projects, like the one below. 

How to Get Started With Thermal Management Using SimScale

This public project demonstrates how engineers can take their CAD model (in this case, a powertrain or internal combustion engine cooling system), set up a simulation, and get fast results to facilitate an iterative design process. 

Thermal Management: LED Lighting Design Considerations

For engineers, lighting doesn’t just happen with the flick of a switch. In addition to understanding how to cool the internal components within a lighting system, you first need a basic understanding of how a lighting system works and affects a building’s overall energy use, its impact on the overall cooling and heating loads, and how and when to consider alternative solutions. 

Employing the right electronics cooling strategy for a lighting solution is essential. A few years ago, the U.S. EPA Energy Star Building Upgrade Manual stated that lighting was typically the largest source of waste heat, consuming around 35% of the net electricity for commercial buildings.

Engineers must select, design, and iteratively redesign lighting systems, so that they not only complement the intended use case or HVAC system,  but also manage thermal conditions. Yet, LED optical performance and lifespan can both decrease drastically with rising temperatures. LED lighting cooling is a perfect use case where CFD can be used for optimizing a lighting system design to predict LED chip temperatures and ensure high optical performance and product longevity.

Lighting System Cooling Project: LED Spotlight

In this recent article, we dive into an LED spotlight electronics cooling project, where conjugate heat transfer (CHT) is used within SimScale to evaluate the design, focusing on heat sink optimization. The piece addresses the main issues arising from thermal management, different types of electronic cooling solutions, and gives recent examples of how these have been wrongly utilized by companies. 

In this thermal management public project that can be copied and used by any SimScale user, we walk you through how to set up this type of simulation, including material assignments and boundary conditions, and provide results confirming numerical convergence and showing through post-processing visualizations how and where the heat is transferred from the heating element to the rest of the geometry. 

The thermal management results, obtained in a matter of hours from SimScale’s cloud-based platform, also indicate how the design could be improved upon for further iterations. To read the whole article, find it here. 

QRC Technologies prevented thermal damage in its electronics design with SimScale. Over 5 iterations tested, 6 weeks saved, and $40K average savings on hardware.

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Thermal Management: Enclosure Cooling 

Electronic enclosure cooling systems are employed to effectively dissipate heat from sealed electrical and electronic enclosures operating in indoor, outdoor, and other types of environments. These systems are used for applications ranging across a vast array of industries, including but not limited to industrial automation, chemical, wastewater treatment, telecommunications, petrochemical, and so on. We will provide two thermal management examples of how enclosure cooling strategies can be evaluated within SimScale. 

This thermal analysis of a graphics processing unit (GPU) enclosure shows how an industrial application can be tested. The simulation results help one to visualize how heat is distributed within a GPU on the edge, cooled via an active fan from the top of the enclosure. 

How to Get Started With Enclosure Cooling Using SimScale

In this programmable heating mantle public project, The CAD model (created in OnShape) consists of components including casing, structural, and electronics parts. The enclosure cooling challenge comes as the initial design goal (heating up containers) must also comply with working conditions of mechanical stress, safety, ergonomy, and thermal load in order to make sure the final product will work effectively. Once the CAD is developed in OnShape, we will then assess the thermal management through thermodynamic simulation using SimScale. Read all about this case study here.

Learn how PRISMADD Japan uses SimScale to optimize their water cooling systems for high-temperature aluminum casting.

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Want to Learn More About Enclosure Cooling Possibilities Within SimScale?

• LED Cooling: Liquid Cooling Thermal Management
• Electronics Enclosure Design for Better Heat Dissipation
• 5 Ready-To-Use Electronics Cooling Simulation Templates

The post Thermal Management: Lighting, Battery, and Enclosure Cooling Projects appeared first on SimScale.

These inadmissible outcomes are generally the result of either poor project management or issues slowing your design process down. In this article, we will focus on the latter problem area, highlighting three common pitfalls in the design process that can easily be avoided.

Design Process Pitfall One: Documentation Dilemas 

Across all industries, design processes are usually followed up with some version of supplementing documentation. This documentation can be either for the end-user, directors, managers or even internal members within your engineering team. Writing with intent to publish is an innately tedious task, and can be a very time-consuming aspect within a design workflow that stifles your time to delivery.

In practice, documentation isn’t always a favorite task, and finding a volunteer to take ownership of such an undertaking… needs it’s own blog to fully berate. On paper, it can seem onerous, time-intensive, and distracting from the overall goal or mission currently at stake. An interesting perspective we will examine on this subject comes to us from Derek Parham, former Deputy CTO for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and before that, the Technical Lead for the G Suite from Google. On the subject of documentation, he explains: 

“People will send out a design doc in an email thread and ask everyone for feedback, then you get this game theory problem where everyone thinks that someone else is going to read it and give feedback, so no one does. Engineers then take this silence as acceptance or apathy and build the feature or system without any feedback. Months later, issues come up that could have been prevented if people actually read the doc and talked about it. So it’s very important to make sure you have a process that actually gets people to read the document.”

Instead of dealing with issues like this, he suggests allowing junior engineers or interns to write the first draft of documentation, then assigning senior engineers as editors. At SimScale, we follow this procedure, as well as having quite a lengthy review process for our documentation, always with opportunity for improvement; as it needs to be constantly updated and added to.

Depending on the size of your company, you may not have enough team members to account for multiple editors/reviewers/writers. If this is the case, you should also explore the opportunity of expanding this function to other departments such as Marketing or HR. All and all, the advice to take away to avoid this pitfall, to avoid having this task left unchecked on your ‘To-Do’ list before it’s too late, is to set up a streamlined documentation process that works for your business. 

Design Process Pitfall Two: Why Wait When You Can Automate? 

In an engineering team’s design process, there are definitely boring tasks that must be done in order to complete the project. Compiling, unit testing, distribution, Q&A… there are probably some designers/readers yawning as they read this. However, they are essential, and have the propensity to be automated. 

At this point, these examples speak more to designers, and less to engineers, but the point that remains can be extended for all disciplines. Autonomous and continuous integration is like an automatic assembly line. You can set it up once, and forget it; it works like clockwork. When you do it correctly, every line of code written is one click away from deployment and reaching customers. Assembly, testing, distribution, and numerous other tasks such as this can be done automatically, giving you more time to focus on the next task at hand. 

So, why should this process be different for engineers? There should be parts of an engineering team’s workflow that should also be automated, starting with their evaluation and simulation software. Gone are the days of manually installing on-premise simulation software that engineers need to manually update, there are now cloud-based solutions, like SimScale, that roll out updates and new features automatically through the power of the cloud. 

With cloud-based software, engineers can easily upload or import CAD models of their designs, run simulations in parallel through their web browser, and then even shut down their computer while the analyses run. This way, teams are able to finish other parts of the design process in the meantime, positively impacting their time to delivery. 

Design Process Pitfall Three: Reinventing the Wheel 

Lastly, engineering teams should avoid reinventing the wheel in their design process. Using what has worked well previously in other designs should be reused in new designs. By incorporating components, parts or methodologies that have been tried and tested in previous designs and eventually products, engineering teams cut out the time that would have gone into engineering brand new parts.

For example, if you’re designing a new electronics cooling system for an LED spotlight, but you have produced something similar in the past, use this CAD model and simulation project moving forward in your new design. Simply change the configurations until you can meet the new requirements and parameters. 

Not only does reusing past work reduces product costs, it makes procurement easier to manage, and streamlines aftermarket services, it most importantly (for your engineering team) results in faster product development and improves time to delivery. 

Using SimScale, engineering teams, no matter where in the world they are located, can reuse previous projects of other team members quite easily with our new Team plan. Features include project sharing & collaboration, a shared team dashboard, and a dedicated technical account manager to help facilitate this tip to avoid design process pitfalls. 

No longer can engineering teams be bound by project silos, time zones, or physical locations to meet demanding deadlines. So how can engineers use this to their advantage?

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Conclusion 

Within your engineering team, there is always an opportunity to improve your time to market in more ways than one, and even more, pitfalls to avoid than the ones listed above. According to Derek Parham, size can also be a major factor in engineering excellence—and any team over 15 is headed in the wrong direction, and possible towards, you guessed it, a pitfall. All and all, in order to mitigate design process problems, figure out a way to smoothly turnaround documentation, how to automate any part of the process, reuse as much as you can, make sure to collaborate and keep everything accessible, and you’re off to a good start. For more advice on how to speed up your design process, check out this recent article giving five insightful improvement tips. 

The post 3 Places Where Your Design Process Is Slowing Your Time to Delivery appeared first on SimScale.