This document details the impact and benefits of high-performance computing (HPC) at Ansys, emphasizing its role in finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Ansys HPC solutions facilitate faster simulations and increased productivity through parallel processing on various computing platforms, resulting in substantial returns on investment. Key applications showcased include enhanced oil recovery and aerospace component simulations, illustrating the efficiency gains and design improvements achievable with HPC technology.

1. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20141
Customer Examples of High-Performance
Parallel Computing for FEA
Wim Slagter, Ph.D
ANSYS, Inc.
Series of 4 Presentations on HPC
1: High-Performance Parallel Computing for FEA
2: High-Performance Parallel Computing for CFD
3: High-Performance Parametric Computing for FEA
4: High-Performance Parametric Computing for CFD

2. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20142
High Performance Computing (HPC) at ANSYS:
An ongoing effort designed to remove
computing limitations from engineers who
use computer aided engineering in all phases
of design, analysis, and testing.
It is a hardware and software initiative!
HPC Defined

3. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20143
Why HPC?
Modal
Nonlinear
Multiphysics
Dynamics
Assemblies
CAD-to-mesh
Capture fidelity
Multiple design ideas
Optimize the design
Ensure product integrity
Impact product design
Enable large models
Allow parametric studies

4. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20144
Why HPC?
Results indicate very substantial returns for investments in HPC:
 $356 dollars on average in revenue per dollar of HPC invested
 $38 dollars on average of profits (or cost savings) per dollar of HPC invested
Key Findings: Financial ROI Results
Source: IDC report “Creating Economic Models Showing the Relationship Between Investments
in HPC and the Resulting Financial ROI and Innovation”; October 2013, IDC #243296, Volume: 1.

5. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20145
Take Advantage of the HPC Revolution
Recent advances have revolutionized the
computational speed available on the desktop
• Multi-core processors
o Every core is really an independent processor
• Large amounts of RAM
• SSDs
• GPUs

6. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20146
Typical HPC Growth Path
Cluster UsersDesktop User
Workstation and/or
Server Users

7. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20147
Our HPC Solutions for FEA
HPC-enabled solutions:
• Structural Mechanics (bundled and solver) products:
o Mechanical, Structural, Professional, Multiphysics, Autodyn
HPC processing solutions for running:
• A simulation – in parallel (simultaneously) – on multiple cores:
o ANSYS HPC, ANSYS HPC Pack, ANSYS HPC Workgroup
• Parametric simulations on multiple cores simultaneously:
o ANSYS HPC Parametric Pack

8. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20148
High-Performance Parallel Computing

9. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 20149
Summary
Design Impact
HPC Parallel
Usingtoday’smulticorecomputersiskeyfor companiesto
remaincompetitive.ANSYSHPCproductsuiteallowsscalability
towhatevercomputationallevelrequired,fromsingle-useror
smallusergroupoptionsat entry-leveluptovirtuallyunlimited
parallelcapacityorlarge usergroupoptionsat enterpriselevel.
• Reduce turnaround time
• Examine more design variants faster
• Simulate larger or more complex models

10. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201410
Application Example
Benefit of HPC Parallel
- Examine More Design Variants
Objective
Develop a steerable conductor for enhanced oil
recovery.
ANSYS Solution
• Stress analysis of hydraulic deflection housing
using ANSYS Mechanical.
• Use ANSYS HPC technology to solve a typical
model with about 750K elements and many
contacts in an hour or less, compared to about
six hours without parallel processing.
Design Impact
Parallel processing makes it possible to evaluate
five to 10 design iterations per day, enabling
Cognity engineers to rapidly improve their design.
Images courtesy of Cognity Ltd. Click here to read the full story

11. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201411
Application Example
Benefit of HPC Parallel
- Simulate Larger or More Complex Models
Objective
Develop components for aircraft, rocket and gas turbine
engines.
ANSYS Solution
• ANSYS structural mechanics simulations calculate
temperature and stress time history of models up to
500,000 nodes.
• Key to the selection of ANSYS structural mechanics
was the program’s scalability – both in terms of
parallel performance and the business model to
support the order of magnitude increase in the
number of design-point analyses to be performed.
Design Impact
Because of the increase in model size and number of
calculations required, Volvo Aero leverages HPC to help
track engine part wear, saving customers service and
replacement costs.
Images courtesy of Volvo Aero. Click here to read the full story

12. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201412
HPC Parallel Scaling
- Faster with More Compute Cores at Your Desktop
Number of Cores Number of Cores
10.7 Mio Degrees of Freedom
Static, linear, structural
1 load step
1 Mio Degrees of Freedom
Harmonic, linear, structural
4 frequencies
Intel Xeon E5-2690 processors (2.9 GHz, 16 cores total) with
128 GB of RAM.

13. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201413
1.3x
1.7x
2.7x 2.4x
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Engine (9 MDOF) Stent (520 KDOF) Clutch (160 KDOF) Bracket (45 KDOF)
SpeedupoverR14.5
Improved Scaling at 8 cores
by an enhanced domain decomposition method at R15.0
HPC Parallel Scaling
- Improved Performance at Higher Core Counts
8-node Linux cluster (with 8 cores and 48 GB of RAM per node,
InfiniBand DDR).

14. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201414
1.6x 1.8x
3.8x
4.0x
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Engine (9 MDOF) Stent (520 KDOF) Clutch (160 KDOF) Bracket (45 KDOF)
SpeedupoverR14.5
Improved Scaling at 16 cores
by an enhanced domain decomposition method at R15.0
HPC Parallel Scaling
- Improved Performance at Higher Core Counts
8-node Linux cluster (with 8 cores and 48 GB of RAM per node,
InfiniBand DDR).

15. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201415
1.8x
2.2x
3.9x
5.0x
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Engine (9 MDOF) Stent (520 KDOF) Clutch (160 KDOF) Bracket (45 KDOF)
SpeedupoverR14.5
Improved Scaling at 32 cores
by an enhanced domain decomposition method at R15.0
HPC Parallel Scaling
- Improved Performance at Higher Core Counts
8-node Linux cluster (with 8 cores and 48 GB of RAM per node,
InfiniBand DDR).

16. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201416
2 CPU cores 2 CPU cores +
Tesla K20
93
324
3.5X
Simulation productivity
(with an HPC license)
K20
8 CPU cores 7 CPU cores +
Tesla K20
275
576
2.1X
Simulation productivity
(with an HPC Pack)
K20
V14sp-5 Model
Turbine geometry
2.1 million DOF
SOLID187 elements
Static, nonlinear analysis
One iteration
Sparse direct solver
Distributed ANSYS Mechanical 15.0 with Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2 2.7 GHz CPU;
Tesla K20 GPU with boost clocks.
ANSYSMechanicaljobs/day
Higher
is
Better
HPC Parallel Scaling
- Performance on Newest GPUs at R15.0

17. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201417
Simulation productivity
(with a HPC Pack)
V14sp-6 Model
4.9 million DOF
Static, nonlinear analysis
One iteration
Sparse direct solver
ANSYSMechanicaljobs/day
Distributed ANSYS Mechanical 15.0 with Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2 2.7 GHz CPU;
Tesla K20 GPU with boost clocks.
HPC Parallel Scaling
- Performance on Newest GPUs at R15.0
8 CPU cores 7 CPU cores
+ Tesla K20
180
270
1.5X
CPU GPU
Benefit
100%
12%
100%
50%
Cost
CPU-only solution cost is approximated and includes
both hardware and software license costs. Benefit is
based on the number of completed Mechanical
jobs/day.
CPU-only
solution cost
Simulation
productivity from
CPU-only system
Additional
productivity
from GPU
Additional
cost of adding
a GPU
Higher
is
Better

18. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201418
ANSYS Advantages
HPC Parallel
- Final Remarks
• Good scalability of distributed solvers up
to 80 CPU cores
• Mainstream solvers can be accelerated by
GPUs
• License scheme treats each GPU socket in
the same manner as a CPU core in all HPC
license products at R15.0 – adding lots of
value in terms of flexibility and speed
• Parallel part-by-part meshing allows
simultaneous meshing of multiple parts
on multi-core machines – without HPC
license!
Images courtesy of HP and Aurecon Australia PTY LTD Click here to read about scalability

19. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201419
Watch recorded webinars by clicking below:
• Understanding Hardware Selection for ANSYS 15.0
• How to Speed Up ANSYS 15.0 with GPUs
• Intel Technologies Enabling Faster, More Effective Simulation
• Why HPC for ANSYS Mechanical and CFD
Click on webinars related to HPC/IT for more and upcoming ones!
Connect with me on LinkedIn by clicking on Wim Slagter
Further Information

20. © 2014 ANSYS, Inc. July 11, 201420
THANK YOU!