Co-Simulation Adapters

Co-simulation refers to the concurrent execution of two or more processes that communicate results during the simulation. A common example of co-simulation is fluid-structure interaction simulations where a structural simulation, such as Abaqus/Standard, communicates results on a shared surface with a fluid dynamics simulation, such as Abaqus/CFD.

The following function adapters can be combined in a parallel simulation flow and directed to interact in a co-simulation group:

Adapter	Role in co-simulation
Co-Simulation Director	Required for all co-simulation analyses. The Co-Simulation Director adapter takes as input a document describing the expected participants in the co-simulation (for which additional adapters will be used) and details of the simulation duration and algorithm used.
Approximation	Used to include Co-Simulation Format Functional Mockup Unit (FMU) files in the co-simulation.
Abaqus	Used to include Abaqus simulations in the co-simulation. Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, and Abaqus/CFD are supported.

If an adapter has no co-simulation capability, the adapter runs normally as part of a co-simulation group. The adapter does not participate in any communications with the other adapters in the group. Automation Process Composer does not distinguish which adapters are capable of co-simulation.