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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SimScale

    Score9.6 out of 10
    N/ASimScale is an engineering simulation platform that aims to revolutionize the way engineers, designers, scientists, and students design products. The SimScale platform is fully cloud-based and is accessible completely via a standard web browser. The easy-to-use interface supports numerous simulation types including Structural Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics, Thermodynamics, and more. The vendor says that SimScale eliminates many of the hurdles that accompany traditional simulation tools: high…N/A

    SIMULIA

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ASIMULIA from Dassault Systemes is a simulation application for 3d objects.N/A
    Pricing
    SimScaleSIMULIA
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SimScaleSIMULIA
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    User Ratings
    SimScaleSIMULIA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (4 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SimScaleSIMULIA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    SimScale GmbH
    For a small company, SimScale is a great fit. It allows me to gain the use and support of higher-end software analysis on demand without the traditional high cost. This is super convenient for a company that does occasional design and analysis. Since the computing is cloud-based it also allows me to process large and detailed models without the high hardware cost that can be required. One potential drawback is that the design information is stored on someone else's server. For some industries and companies this would be a deal-breaker.
    Incentivized
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    Dassault Systemes
    It appears to be evolving more towards large users with the 3D EXPERIENCE, while becoming less focused on small users like me, becoming more expensive and limiting the number of cores while most PC's now can easily run 8 cores. Of course it is great for non-linear and highly non-linear scenarios, and especially good at combing a huge variety of element types. I guess it is not best suited for linear analysis due to its high price, but even in this case you have to put in the balance the ability to make the best choice of finite elements and being so straightforward about actually using them.
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    Pros
    SimScale GmbH
    • Material non-linear analysis.
    • Geometric non-linear analysis.
    • Meshing.
    Incentivized
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    Dassault Systemes
    • Create and modify designs from within the CAE environment. Although it has very basic capabilities, it is quite capable of generating 2D and 3D parametric designs. I have even generated some "fancy" designs which ended up being a challenge for draftsmen in specialized solid modeling CAD. I also like the fact that being somewhat limited, it forces you to stick to simple and effective design.
    • Addressing structural instabilities such as snap-through or buckling. This was such a challenge when I started using Abaqus, I had to take a course on "achieving convergence". Coming from there, I can see how SIMULIA has become increasingly able to give you the numerical tools or tricks you need to achieve convergence consistently. In the past I often feared running into different convergence issues as I moved across different produce sizes, leading to changes in the analysis approach, which would make it more difficult to compare them. I just went through a 12-size family in 5 dimensional scenarios each, without a single issue after ensuring convergence with the first couple of sizes.
    • Beautiful pictures. The post-processing of results enables me to generate highly illustrative, fairly easy to understand and elegant presentations, by controlling transparency and results shown independently on different groups, which I can select by material, location, etc.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    SimScale GmbH
    • Learning from tutorials is great, but limiting. The online help is a must.
    • Some simulations take a lot of time, but at least it's not on your PC.
    • Sometimes the software times out due to the server.
    Incentivized
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    Dassault Systemes
    • Exporting sketches. For example, you can import dxf for sketches, but you can't export dxf. This is a major drawback for me, because I often communicate with customers through dwg or dxf sketches. If I can't export dxf, my sketches in CAE are "dead". I have to redo them in the dwg sketch. It is so inconvenient, I often end up making the sketches in DraftSight, so I can export them to CAE but I still have the originals in dwg format.
    • CAE doesn't remember element type assignment by sets. Sometimes when I reconfigure or modify a design, I regenerate sets and surfaces, and this in turn updates material assignments, interactions and loads almost automatically. This doesn't happen with element types, so I often end up submitting a job with the wrong element types.
    • Mesh regeneration and re-mapping in 2D within the job. I need this a lot to model axisymmetric assemblies with sharp indentation the destroys the original mesh. I had it in MSC/MARC and it worked great. Abaqus has it only for 3D. I have tried alternatives like lagrangian/eulerian and eulerian domains but it's still more complicated.
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    Likelihood to Renew
    SimScale GmbH
    I had a great experience with SimScale but we only used the software for a short period of time to complete the current design requirements. It is not a software that we would continually subscribe to. Next subscription event would occur when there is a design requirement to do so.
    Incentivized
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    Dassault Systemes
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    SimScale GmbH
    No answers on this topic
    Dassault Systemes
    Extremely well organized and friendly, reflecting the latest approaches in solid modeling and adding the FEA part so seamlessly for the user. It's a joy to use. I'm aware some people would complain about the meshing capabilities and thus prefer using HYPERMESH. Fortunately not my case. I did wish I had HYPERMESH a couple of times, but for most of my projects CAE meshing is fine.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    SimScale GmbH
    No answers on this topic
    Dassault Systemes
    I keep getting the feeling that it is drifting away from small users. I don't feel so comfortable with the SWYM community approach. I felt much better when you could just email or call HKS and you would feel like you were talking to a real expert who understood your situation. When I was reassigned to reseller in Argentina, which is like the other side of the world for me, I appreciated the cultural closeness, but I had to say goodbye to the level of support I had from HKS and learned to "support myself."
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    Alternatives Considered
    SimScale GmbH
    SimScale is much faster to spin up on than OpenFOAM. Ansys CFD tools are much more expensive! Both tools require expensive computing equipment to run, which SimScale does not!
    Incentivized
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    Dassault Systemes
    MARC can do the job from an FEA point of view. It even appears better at a couple of things such as 2D remeshing and surviving with highly distorted meshes. So I regard it as a very competitive alternative. I prefer SIMULIA because the GUI is so much better, especially the ability to create actual parametric designs in CAE. ANSYS doesn't cut it for me. I tried it for 1 month and I would see how much I would struggle with convergence in large deformation and large displacement situations with hyperelastic materials with which I have to deal all the time. Also the GUI is not as well built an integrated as in SIMULIA.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    SimScale GmbH
    • It has allowed us to increase our service offering which has lead to additional work.
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    Dassault Systemes
    • I don't even bother doing an ROI. Without SIMULIA I would be pretty much out of business. Except for the fact that I could still have an alternative with MSC/MARC.
    • Price is becoming a more difficult hurdle for small users. It appears I have survived because there was a 50% discount on my small 6-token package. Without this special price I would have to close my business. I'm currently exploring alternatives.
    • A more flexible scheme enabling to add tokens over short periods of time or paying per use could be an interesting possibility.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    SimScale Screenshots

    Screenshot of Thermodynamics: Gearbox Thermal SimulationScreenshot of Finite Element Analysis (FEA): Gantry Crane Stress AnalysisScreenshot of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD): HVAC Internal Flow Analysis