About Simulation Processes, Simulation Activities, and Steps

You use Process Composer to capture a simulation process.

A simulation process is a series of tasks that achieve an end. A simulation process captures a series of simulation activities that represent what the task is achieving. A simulation activity, in turn, contains a sequence of steps that represent how the task is achieved. In most cases, a step runs a specific application outside Process Composer, such as Microsoft Excel® or Abaqus.

For example, a simulation process could be a composite wing design that is validated by physical tests and virtual simulations. The simulation process captures the following simulation activities. Each simulation activity represents what the task is achieving.

  1. Modeling the geometry of the wing
  2. Modeling the composite layups
  3. Validating the virtual simulation of the wing
  4. Testing a physical wing and correlating the results with the simulation
  5. Generating a report and recommending design changes

Each of the four simulation activities contains steps. Each step represent how the task is achieved. For example, the simulation activity that validates the virtual simulation of the wing, captures the following steps:

  1. Using Physics Simulation apps to create a model of the attachment of the wing to the fuselage and the pressure distribution across the surface of the wing.
  2. Using Abaqus to run the simulation model.
  3. Using the Physics Results Explorer app to postprocess the results and to determine the deflections at the wing tip and the stresses at the wing root.
  4. Using Microsoft Excel to store the results.

The simulation activity does not describe how to validate the virtual simulation; it could be validated by a number of finite element analysis applications. In contrast, the steps within the simulation activity describe how each step is performed with specific applications and tools.

Data play an important role in a simulation process. Data flow between simulation activities and between the applications in a step in the form of parameters. In addition, data flow out of Process Composer and are accessed by the applications in a step from the working directory; likewise, data are generated in the working directory by the applications in a step and flow back into Process Composer. Data are described in more detail in Parameters and Folders, Documents, and Files.