SimScale Workflow and Collaboration: Project Setup, Mesh Import, and Team Sharing

SimScale Workflow and Collaboration: Project Setup, Mesh Import, and Team Sharing

The collaboration features in SimScale are what actually sold me on the platform. I was working on a project with a team spread across three time zones, and the ability to share a simulation result with a simple URL — no software install, no file transfer — was a game changer. Let me walk you through the workflow and collaboration tools I use regularly.

Project Setup

Creating a Project

1. Dashboard > New Project
2. Set:
   • Project name: Descriptive (e.g., "Heat Sink Optimization Q3 2026")
   • Description: Project details and objectives
   • Visibility: Private or Public
3. Project structure:
   • Geometries: CAD files
   • Meshes: Generated meshes
   • Simulations: Analysis setups
   • Runs: Solver executions
   • Results: Post-processing data

Importing CAD

1. Geometries > Import
2. Supported formats:
   • STEP (.stp, .step): Recommended (neutral, preserves geometry)
   • IGES (.igs, .iges): Legacy neutral
   • Parasolid (.x_t, .x_b): Siemens NX, Solid Edge
   • BREP (.brep): Open CASCADE native
   • STL (.stl): Mesh format (for 3D scans or topology optimization)
3. File size limit:
   • Community: 100 MB
   • Professional: 500 MB
   • Enterprise: 2 GB
4. After import:
   • Check geometry for errors (gaps, sliver faces)
   • Use SimScale geometry tools to repair
   • Mid-surface thin walls (for shell meshing)

Geometry Preparation

1. Simplify: Remove unnecessary features (small fillets, logos)
2. Decimate: Reduce detail in non-critical regions
3. Mid-surface: Convert thin solids to surfaces (for shells)
4. Imprint: Ensure mating surfaces share edges (for contact)
5. Clean: Remove duplicate surfaces, merge edges

Mesh Configuration

Automatic Meshing

1. Meshes > Create Mesh
2. Select geometry
3. Mesh type:
   • Tetrahedral: General purpose (most geometries)
   • Hex dominant: Better quality (for simple geometries)
   • Shell: For thin walls (2D elements)
4. Fineness: 1-10
   • 1-3: Coarse (fast, preliminary)
   • 4-6: Moderate (typical production)
   • 7-10: Fine (high accuracy, slow)
5. Local refinements:
   • Face refinement: Select critical faces, set element size
   • Edge refinement: Select critical edges
   • Region refinement: Select volume, set element size
   • Inflation layers: For CFD wall treatment

Mesh Quality Check

1. After meshing, SimScale reports:
   • Total cells: Element count
   • Total nodes: Node count
   • Mesh quality: Orthogonal quality, aspect ratio
2. Check:
   • Orthogonal quality: > 0.1 (minimum), > 0.3 (good)
   • Aspect ratio: < 20 (acceptable), < 5 (good)
   • Skewness: < 0.8 (acceptable), < 0.5 (good)
3. If quality is poor:
   • Increase fineness
   • Add local refinements
   • Simplify geometry

Mesh Import

1. SimScale supports mesh import:
   • OpenFOAM: .polyMesh folder
   • UNV: Universal mesh format
   • STL: Triangulated mesh (for CFD surfaces)
2. Use case:
   • Mesh generated in external tool (HyperMesh, ANSA, Gmsh)
   • Import to SimScale for solver execution
3. Advantage:
   • Use specialized meshing tool for complex geometry
   • Run solver on cloud HPC

Simulation Templates

Creating Templates

1. Set up a simulation with all physics, materials, and boundary conditions
2. Save as template:
   • Simulations > Save as Template
3. Template includes:
   • Analysis type: Static, CFD, thermal, etc.
   • Materials: Assigned to geometry
   • Boundary conditions: Loads and supports
   • Solver settings: Tolerances, time steps
4. Template does NOT include:
   • Geometry (must be re-imported)
   • Mesh (must be re-generated)

Using Templates

1. New Simulation > From Template
2. Select template
3. Import new geometry
4. Generate mesh
5. Assign materials and boundary conditions to new geometry
6. Run

Template Applications

1. Standardized analyses: Same analysis type across multiple products
2. Design variants: Same setup with different geometry
3. Team standards: Ensure consistent simulation setup
4. Onboarding: New team members use validated templates

Running Simulations

Solver Selection

1. SimScale uses open-source solvers:
   • Code_Aster: Structural (static, dynamic, nonlinear)
   • OpenFOAM: CFD (incompressible, compressible, multiphase)
   • CalculiX: Structural (alternative to Code_Aster)
2. SimScale auto-selects solver based on analysis type
3. No need to configure solver manually (but advanced settings available)

Run Configuration

1. Simulations > Create Run
2. Set:
   • Run name: Descriptive (e.g., "Baseline_v1")
   • Compute resources: Number of cores (8, 16, 32)
   • Maximum runtime: Prevent runaway jobs (e.g., 24 hours)
3. Run:
   • Click "Start"
   • Simulation queued on cloud
   • Monitor: Progress bar, residual plots
4. Run time depends on:
   • Mesh size (more cells = longer)
   • Physics complexity (nonlinear = longer)
   • Cores (more = faster, up to scaling limit)

Parallel Runs

1. Run multiple simulations simultaneously:
   • Parametric study: Different parameter values
   • Design variants: Different geometries
   • Wind directions: 8 directions in parallel
2. Each run uses independent cloud resources
3. No interference between runs
4. Total cost = sum of all runs

Result Sharing and Collaboration

Sharing Results

1. Results > Share
2. Options:
   • Private link: Only people with link can view
   • Team share: All team members can view
   • Public link: Anyone can view (no login required)
3. Shared results include:
   • 3D viewer: Interactive post-processing in browser
   • Contour plots: Pre-configured views
   • Probe points: Pre-defined measurement points
   • Animations: Mode shapes, transient results

Team Collaboration

1. Organization > Teams
2. Create teams:
   • Structural team: Access to FEA projects
   • CFD team: Access to CFD projects
   • Management: View-only access to all projects
3. Permissions:
   • Owner: Full control (delete, share, edit)
   • Editor: Can create and modify simulations
   • Viewer: Can view results only
4. Real-time collaboration:
   • Multiple users can view same project simultaneously
   • Comments on simulations and results
   • Version history (track changes)

Public Projects

1. Project > Visibility > Public
2. Public projects:
   • Anyone can view: Without SimScale account
   • Showcase: Portfolio of simulation work
   • Education: Share tutorials and examples
3. SimScale public project library:
   • Browse community projects
   • Copy and modify for own use
   • Learn from real-world examples

API Integration

SimScale API

1. REST API for automation:
   • Create project: Programmatically
   • Import geometry: From URL or upload
   • Create mesh: Trigger meshing
   • Create simulation: From template
   • Start run: Execute solver
   • Get results: Download results
2. Authentication:
   • API key (from account settings)
   • Bearer token in header
3. Use cases:
   • Automated pipeline: CAD → mesh → simulate → report
   • Design optimization: Run many variants automatically
   • Integration: Embed simulation in product development workflow

Example API Workflow

import requests

# Create project
headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"}
project = requests.post("https://api.simscale.com/v1/projects",
    headers=headers,
    json={"name": "Automated Analysis", "visibility": "private"})

# Import geometry
geometry = requests.post(f"https://api.simscale.com/v1/projects/{project_id}/geometries",
    headers=headers,
    json={"url": "https://example.com/part.step"})

# Create mesh
mesh = requests.post(f"https://api.simscale.com/v1/projects/{project_id}/meshes",
    headers=headers,
    json={"geometry_id": geometry_id, "fineness": 5})

# Create simulation from template
sim = requests.post(f"https://api.simscale.com/v1/projects/{project_id}/simulations",
    headers=headers,
    json={"template_id": "structural_template_001"})

# Start run
run = requests.post(f"https://api.simscale.com/v1/projects/{project_id}/simulations/{sim_id}/runs",
    headers=headers,
    json={"name": "Automated Run", "num_cores": 16})

Cost Management

Pricing Model

1. Community plan: Free (limited resources)
   • 8 cores, 100K nodes, public projects
2. Professional plan: Monthly/annual subscription
   • 32 cores, 5M nodes, private projects
   • Includes support and training
3. Enterprise plan: Custom pricing
   • 96 cores, unlimited mesh, API access
   • Dedicated support, SLA

Cost Optimization

1. Start coarse: Run preliminary with coarse mesh (fast, cheap)
2. Refine selectively: Only refine critical regions
3. Use symmetry: Reduce model size by 2× or 4×
4. Parallel runs: Run variants simultaneously (faster wall time)
5. Templates: Avoid re-setup errors (save time)
6. Monitor runs: Cancel stuck or diverging runs early

Best Practices

1. Geometry first: Clean geometry before meshing
2. Mesh convergence: Verify results don't change with refinement
3. Start simple: Linear analysis before nonlinear
4. Validate: Compare to analytical or experimental data
5. Document: Use project description and run names
6. Share early: Get team feedback during setup
7. Use templates: Standardize across team
8. Monitor cost: Track core-hours per project

Wrapping Up

The collaboration side of SimScale is honestly its biggest differentiator. Being able to send a client a link and let them explore the 3D results in their browser — no software, no plugins — is huge for client communication. The API is also handy if you want to automate repetitive analyses. I set up a pipeline that runs a standard thermal analysis on every new heat sink design and posts the results to our team chat. It's not something you'd do with desktop CAE without a lot of scripting and infrastructure.