Simulation Processes
A simulation process answers the following questions:
- What am I simulating?
- Why am I performing this simulation?
- What type of simulation am I performing?
- What tools am I using to perform the simulation?
- What does the simulation generate?
- What do I get from the simulation?
- What is the state of the simulation?
A simulation process is the container for the data and the procedures that answer these questions. A simulation process contains the data required to run the simulation along with the data generated by the simulation.
Simulation Activities
A simulation process contains simulation activities, and the structure of the simulation
process controls the sequence in which the simulation activities are run. A
simulation process may contain zero, one, or more simulation activities. For
example, a simulation process that runs a typical finite element analysis includes
at least three simulation activities:
- Preprocessing. Creation of the model, the prescribed conditions, and the
mesh.
- Execution. Analysis of the model by the finite element analysis
application.
- Postprocessing. Extraction of the results of the analysis into a usable
form; for example, a plot, animation, or spreadsheet.
A simulation activity contains steps. A step, in turn, contains rules. Process Composer provides the following types of steps and rules:
- Download step
- Download steps use download rules to take data from the specifications category and download it to the working directory.
- OS command steps
- OS command steps replicate commands that are manually entered on the operating system command
line; for example, a command to run a script or run an application. The
execution of the script or application is handled by the 3DOrchestrate Station, and any data generated is stored in the working directory.
- Upload steps
- Upload steps use upload rules to take data from the working directory and upload it to the specifications category.
- Delete steps
- Delete steps use delete rules to remove unwanted data from the working directory.
When you create a simulation activity, you can specify that the new activity will contain predefined steps (download, OS command, upload, and delete steps), or you can use Process Composer to create the steps individually.