6 Replies Latest reply on Jul 15, 2014 3:52 PM by Shaun Densberger

    Decreased Solidworks Simulation Solve Time

    Michael Voet
    Michael Voet Jul 14, 2014 12:58 AM

      Hello all,

      Im currently working on a project for a class that requires simulations of assemblies but the simulations are taking a long time.  As in excess of 5 hours long time.

      Im solving things with in excess of 62,000 DOF.

      Is there anyway to make the simulations run faster?

      I feel like there ishould be a way to allow solidworks to utilize the full potential of my system.

       

      My specs:

       

      Intel i7-3770

      Dual AMD 7770 2GB

      8 GB DDR3

      2 x 128 GB OCZ SSD

      Corsair 850W PSU

       

       

      I have increased the virtual memory of the system to over 10GB on the SSD's in hopes that soildworks will utilize it, and it does but only for half of the simulation.

       

      Any suggestions?

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        • Re: Decreased Solidworks Simulation Solve Time
          Jared Conway
          Jared Conway Jul 14, 2014 2:37 AM (in response to Michael Voet)

          regardless of what code you use, eventually hardware will be a bottleneck. you can only make the solving process so parallel. the solidworks simulation solvers are pretty powerful and do a pretty good job of using cores, ssd and ram when appropriate and when possible. but also remember that some of this is controlled by windows, so expecting everything you have from a hardware perspective is probably something you shouldn't expect.

           

          5hrs for 62k DOF seems like a long time but you didn't tell us anything about the analysis. is there contact? then maybe i'm not surprised. are you running a nonlinear dynamic? then maybe i'm not surprised. using solid elements when you should use beams or shells, using a lot of connectors? then maybe i'm not surprised. have a block with a force on it that is restrained on the other end, then i am surprised and i'd expect a software issue.

           

          so let's start with some info about what type of analysis you have and then we can discuss if throwing hardware at it will help.

            • Re: Decreased Solidworks Simulation Solve Time
              Michael Voet
              Michael Voet Jul 15, 2014 10:58 AM (in response to Jared Conway)

              Im modeling a longboard (skateboard), where I have every component.  There are a ton of no penetration contacts.  All together there are about 45 parts involved in the final assembly. Im reworking the assembly piece by piece, and running the simulations along the way.  I think that the model wasn't properly fixed, and I believe there are a few error with some of the contact in the bearing.

              Thanks for the quick response

            • Re: Decreased Solidworks Simulation Solve Time
              Nicholas Luyster
              Nicholas Luyster Jul 14, 2014 11:41 AM (in response to Michael Voet)

              Hi Michael,

               

              Jared is right about the bottlenecking issues.

               

              I assume that there is a lot of no penetration contact.  Is this correct?  This type of contact can increase the solution time considerably. Make sure to use it sparingly.  A bonded connection will go much faster so make sure to use that whenever you can.

               

              If you get a warning message saying that large displacements were detected, Make sure to click "no"  otherwise the simulation will go through a non linear routine and it will take much longer to solve. 

               

              All the best,

               

              Nick Luyster

              Gosimulation.com

              Online SolidWorks Simulation Training