Design Study Automation

Design Study Automation is an essential part of the Autodesk® CFD process. The tools contained in the Design Study Automation suite improve operational efficiency and facilitate simulation-based decision making:

To create or update a design from CAD, launch the Design Study Manager.
To define a complete design study before launching from CAD, open the Design Study Builder.
To save and reuse settings, use a Template.
To automatically assign a setting to a CAD entity, create a Rule.
To run the complete design study, use the Solver Manager.
Track the performance of running scenarios with the Solution Monitor.
To compare analysis results from multiple designs, use the Decision Center.

To build additional automation and customization, use the Application Programming Interface (API) or Scripting.

The Design Study

The Design Study is the core of Design Study Automation. It is a hierarchical structure that organizes the Autodesk® CFD process into three fundamental levels:

Design Study

Every time you use Autodesk® CFD, you are in a Design Study.
At its simplest, the Design Study contains a single analysis.
The Design Study is a file system that organizes multiple variables critical to the design process.
The name of the Design Study only appears on the top bar of the User Interface.
The Design Study is the framework for the definition and comparison of the multi-level engineering design project.
Design Studies contain Designs and Scenarios...

Design

Every unique geometric model is a Design.
Use Designs to understand the effects of geometry modifications made in the CAD system.
Create a new design for each geometric variation from your CAD system.
Each Design can have one or more individual Scenarios that reference it...

Scenario

A Scenario is an individual analysis within a Design.
All Scenarios in a design reference the same geometry.
To understand the effects of different settings (such as boundary conditions or materials), create a new scenario for each different settings case.

Basic Design Study Process

These are the basic steps for launching, setting up, and evaluating results from one or more scenarios. This summary of the steps needed to run a scenario demonstrate the manual approach of running an analysis. Tools such as Templates, Rules, and the Design Study Builder automate many of the steps presented here:

Launch from CAD

There are two primary ways to transfer the model from the CAD system:
- Design Study Manager
  
  The Design Study Manager is an interactive tool for coordinating your CAD models and Design Studies. You can use it to manage Design Studies, Designs, and Scenarios. The Design Study Manager communicates model changes made in CAD to the open Design Study in Autodesk® CFD
  
  For more about the Design Study Manager
  
  For an example of creating a new design study
- Design Study Builder
  
  With the Design Study Builder, you can define a design study in the CAD system before transferring the model into Autodesk® CFD. CAD Entity Groups link model entities to CFD model settings.
  
  For more about the Design Study Manager
  
  For an example of creating a new design study
Manage Designs and Scenarios with the Design Study Bar

The Design Study bar is a fully interactive tree-based tool for defining, reviewing, and modifying the CFD model. It lists all designs and corresponding scenarios. You can clone scenarios and designs to investigate the effects of settingss and geometric changes, respectively.

For an example showing use of the Design Study Bar

For more about the Design Study bar
Compare and Assess Results with the Decision Center

Use the Decision Center to organize the data and to make smart design decisions. Compare results from your designs and scenarios using graphical output, tables, and plots.

For more about results visualization

For more about the Decision Center
Collaborate with the Autodesk® CFD Viewer

Use the Autodesk® CFD Viewer to view results remotely and to share simulation results with others in the design supply chain.

For more about the Autodesk® CFD Viewer

Using Automation Tools Together**

In many cases, the most efficient approach is to use Automation tools together. For example:

Rules and Templates

Use a Rule to apply a heat generation to a chip that is used multiple times in an electronic module.
In a Template, add heat generation boundary conditions that are assigned on other component.
With this combination, the rule automates the heat load on the multiple instances of the chip, and the template includes heat loads for other components.

Templates and Design Study Builder

Define a Template for a simulation type that is often run.
In the Design Study Builder, import this Template as the basis of the design study.

Design Study Builder and Rules

In the Design Study Builder, assign settings that are grouped in the CAD model, and may be unique from one study to the next. Use a Rule to apply a setting to an often-used CAD entity.
After setting up the scenarios in a study, run them with the Solution Manager.
Observe the progress of all running scenarios with the Solution Monitor.