ANSYS Reaches New Heights in 32-Bit Computing

First makes simulation extremely powerful on 64-bit with 100 million degree of freedom triumph, now solves a 10 million DOF structural analysis model within a 32-bit environment, raising performance/price ratio for CAE computing -- ANSYS, a global innovator of simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes, today announced that it has reached yet another engineering simulation milestone by solving a structural analysis model with more than 10 million degree of freedom (10,501,650 DOF) within a 32-bit environment, making it possible for ANSYS customers to solve larger models on relatively low-cost hardware. In May, ANSYS became the first engineering simulation company to solve a structural analysis model with more than 100 million DOF within a 64-bit environment, endowing the power to solve models of aircraft engines, automobiles and other complete systems. Now, ANSYS has made solving models amazingly affordable with its latest achievement. In a joint effort with Linux Networx, the 10 million DOF structural analysis problem was completed on an 11 processor Linux Networx Evolocity(R) cluster with Intel Xeon chips and the Linux operating system. DOF refers to the number of equations being solved in an analysis giving an indication of a model's size. Previously, only about 1.5 million DOF undistributed could be solved within a 32-bit environment. "Our customers have shown an interest in solving moderate-sized problems on very cost-effective hardware," said Mike Wheeler, vice president and general manager at ANSYS, Inc. "Our new distributed solution algorithm is much more memory efficient, which enabled us to solve such a large problem with a modestly sized 32-bit cluster." As a technological leader in cluster computing, ANSYS is committed to solving increasingly larger model sizes and providing a solution for our customers who want to continue to push the traditional analysis boundaries. This latest success combines the long-standing power of the ANSYS solvers with the scalability of the Workbench environment. Linux Networx plans to ship turnkey systems pre-configured with ANSYS to minimize startup time, increase productivity and ease IT concerns for ANSYS customers. "With ANSYS, Inc.'s experience of solving large CAE models and our expertise with parallel computing, it is fitting that we are working together on this achievement," said Eric Pitcher, vice president of Technical Marketing at Linux Networx. "By delivering cluster solutions optimized for CAE modeling, Linux Networx and ANSYS can help customers achieve faster simulations, impressive cost savings, and higher productivity."