White Paper

Study on HPC and  Cloud Computing for Engineering Simulation

In engineering applications, cloud computing can provide the on-demand compute power needed to run increasingly more complex simulations on a more frequent basis throughout the design cycle. Simulation plays an increasingly important role in the development of disruptive new technologies and systems such as autonomous vehicles, digital manufacturing, next-generation aircraft, and more. Rapid, highfidelity simulation and analysis are a key part of designing and testing these systems.

Peerless Research Group conducted the cloud-enabled simulation study in March of 2023 on behalf of Digital Engineering for ANSYS, Inc., a leading provider of engineering and simulation software solutions, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The purpose of this research is to better understand the obstacles, drivers and best practices when beginning or expanding the use of HPC and cloud-enabled engineering simulation.

The total number of respondents for this study was more than 740 people, including both Ansys and non-Ansys customers.

According to the survey results, 24% of respondents are using the cloud for engineering simulation today, with another 24% planning to use it over the next 12 months. In terms of the most important cloud-enabled simulation capabilities, 57% of respondents noted that the ability to provide on-demand burst capabilities was extremely/ very important, followed by the ability to perform simulations using different software products (52%), and collaboration with other team members (51%).

To better understand how those who have adopted HPC cloud computing for engineering simulation successfully navigated implementation obstacles, we asked how they ramped up their cloud computing initiatives to determine best practices. When asked which one initiative is most important before acquiring new HPC hardware and infrastructure for simulation workloads, the top three answers were:

1. Providing evidence of the benefits that the simulation workloads will experience
2. Quantifying the business value and expected ROI
3.  Obtaining assistance in specifying the ideal hardware configuration for their specific simulation environment

This white paper will explore how companies are using HPC and simulation on the cloud, meeting its challenges and justifying its benefits to company decision makers in order to realize its potential.