SimScale reduces the lead time of industrial aerodynamic simulations from weeks to hours, using the Lattice Boltzmann Method, provided by Numeric Systems, and high-performance cloud computing, provided by Amazon web services. Proof of concept and level of accuracy is demonstrated with the "DrivAer" geometry —a standard automotive validation case for both CFD and wind tunnel experiments. The results show that SimScale provides a solution to significantly reduce turnaround times for 10x less cost with fantastic accuracy.

1. © 2020, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
SimScale: Unparalleled CFD
Speeds with Parallel Computing
Track: AWS HPC Workloads

2. Maximise Fuel Economy by optimizing vehicle
shape using computational fluid dynamics
CAD Assembly File
CFD Cleaned CAD
Meshed Model
Results
~10 days
7 days
Hardware
Dependent
What if you had results by lunch
direct from the CAD Assembly?
Automotive Aerodynamics

3. What are we talking about?
Idea Implementation Impact
Reduce automotive aerodynamics
workflows from weeks to hours
Weave the SimScale platform with:
● An efficient, robust and
accurate solver
● High Performance cloud
computing
Turnaround times unseen by the
automotive industry, and an
enhanced, cost-efficient iterative
design process

4. SimScale Platform
We created the world’s first cloud-based
engineering simulation platform.
● Fluid dynamics (CFD)
● Solid mechanics (FEA)
● Thermodynamics
All accessible via a web browser.

5. Pacefish Solver
● Isothermal Transient Flow Solver based on the
Lattice Boltzmann method
● Developed by Numeric Systems GmbH
● Fully integrated into SimScale
● Multi-GPU enables extremely fast turnaround times
● Runs on AWS P3 instances with latest generation
Nvidia GPUs
● Turbulence models: Smagorinsky (LES), SST-DDES,
SST-IDDES (uRANS-LES) and k-omega SST (uRANS)
Dedicated solver enabling accurate, fast and
robust CFD

6. Estateback
E_D_wM_wW
Fastback
F_D_wM_wW
Notchback
N_D_wM_wW
DrivAer
The industry standard validation cases.
Simultaneously.
In just a few hours.

7. It takes 3 things operating in unison to achieve such a task.
An intuitive, easy and robust platform, followed by a powerful, fast and
accurate solver, and finally a lot of computing power!
What are we talking about?

8. Lattice Boltzmann Method
The lattice boltzmann method implemented in Pacefish®
by our partners at Numeric
Systems is a robust, accurate, GPU accelerated solver
D3Q19 Lattice Cell
Particle Methods LBM Navier Stokes
Microscopic Mesoscopic Macroscopic

9. The solution is broken down into thousands of domains and processed on cloud GPUs
at our partner AWS
Nvidia V100 in AWS
P3 instance
AWS Data Centre
Ireland
High Performance Computing

10. AWS was first in the cloud to offer NVIDIA V100 Tensor Core
GPUs via Amazon EC2 P3 instances.
To increase performance and lower cost, AWS has announced the
new EC2 instances based on the NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs.
AWS expect EC2 instances based on NVIDIA A100 GPUs to set
new performance benchmarks.
For more information about EC2 instances based on NVIDIA A100
GPUs and potentially participate in early access, see here:
https://pages.awscloud.com/ec2_instances_nvidia_a100.html
Nvidia GPUs on AWS

11. ● Greater than 95% accuracy for Drag
Coefficient on all models
● Accurate Pressure Coefficient correlation
● 162 million cells
● 10 minute setup time
● Fully transient
● All in the Cloud
● Solved in less than 8 hours
Results
Upper left: Isovolumes of above and below 17.5 m/s and 12 m/s velocity
Lower left: Isovolumes of above and below 30 Pa and 10 Pa (Gauge)
180M cell mesh

12. Less than 5% deviation for Drag Coefficient for
all models
~2.5% deviation for Fastback and Notchback
models
Drag Coefficient results accurately represent
changes in geometry and trends
5% and under deviation considered very
accurate for industry
Note: Alternative experiments (John et.al [4]) on the
Estateback model indicate a drag coefficient of 0.309,
which would give a deviation of 1.6%
Fastback Estateback Notchback
Experimental 0.275 0.319 0.277
Simulation 0.268 0.304 0.271
% Error 2.55% 4.70% 2.24%
Results

13. ● State-of-the-art GPUs retail at prices around $10k
each
● AWS offers always the latest hardware, on-demand,
at competitive price point
● TCO includes power, maintenance, depreciation...
● Pacefish®
allows cheap determination of ideal
instance size - no over-provisioning!
● AWS P3 instances and SimScale allow aerodynamics
CFD computation at unprecedented cost-efficiency
Cost Efficiency

14. Details:
● 162.2 million cells
● 3mm surface Cells
● Under 9 hours runtime on AWS P3 instance with 8
x Nvidia V100 GPUs
Pressure Coefficient Distributions are validated against experimental
results published by Heft et al.
Pressure Coefficient
Fastback

15. SimScale / Pacefish®
Experimental Results (Heft et.al [5][6])

16. Pressure Coefficient
Notchback
Details:
● 162.2 million cells
● 3mm surface Cells
● Under 8 hours runtime on AWS P3 instance with 8
x Nvidia V100 GPUs
Pressure Coefficient Distributions are validated against experimental
results published by Heft et al.

17. SimScale / Pacefish®
Experimental results (Heft et.al [5][6])

18. Pressure Coefficient
Estateback
Details:
● 71.2 million cells
● 4.5mm surface Cells
● Under 4 hours runtime on AWS P3 instance with 4
x Nvidia V100 GPUs
Pressure Coefficient Distributions are validated against experimental
results published by Heft et al.

19. Transient Data

20. Conclusion
SimScale, Pacefish®
and AWS provide a:
● Fully Validated
● Transient
● Web and Cloud based
● More than 10x cheaper
● Lattice Boltzmann Method Solver
● Enhanced by GPU acceleration
to reach high levels of accuracy in a fraction of the time.
Left: Velocity followed by Vorticity
Setup and results publicly
available on SimScale

21. Thank you!
© 2020, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.