WELSIM - The World's Leading Engineering Simulation Pre- and Post-Processor for Open-Source Solvers

With the rapid development of engineering simulation CAE software over the past few decades, it has become a highly complex and intricate product. Users’ expectations for simulation CAE software have also risen accordingly. Not only does modern simulation software require strong computational capabilities and accurate results, but it also demands a graphical user interface (GUI) that is user-friendly, easy to learn, and intuitive. This presents steep challenges for small and medium-sized development teams. Due to a shortage of ongoing development resources, many outstanding simulation CAE projects end up attracting little to no attention. Similarly, some well-established and capable solvers struggle to expand their user base and community influence because they don’t have a user-friendly GUI and an automated maintenance system for sustainable development. The lack of attention toward excellent solvers is undoubtedly a waste of computing resources.

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Through years of dedicated research and development, the engineering simulation software WELSIM has acquired the capability to address these industry issues. Developers of exceptional solvers, particularly those working on open-source solvers, can focus on advancing their solver’s core features while entrusting the pre- and post-processing tasks to WELSIM. Additionally, WELSIM enables the establishment of an automated regression testing system, ensuring the precision of solvers. This approach significantly conserves development resources and time.

WELSIM is compatible with various solvers

From its inception, WELSIM has been positioned as a general-purpose simulation software capable of supporting diverse physical fields and analysis types. It currently seamlessly integrates with several third-party open-source solvers and, with ongoing development, will extend support to even more exceptional open-source solvers.

A user-friendly graphical user interface is an essential aspect of excellent pre- and post-processors. WELSIM already contains a comprehensive set of pre- and post-processing features.

(1) It possesses a variety of user interaction windows, such as the project tree, properties, 3D graphics, output, table, chart, and more. For more details, refer to the article “Window design and development for general-purpose simulation software”.

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(2) WELSIM features a wide range of user interaction commands and menus. See the article “Design and development of context menu in simulation software” for more information.

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(3) WELSIM includes a flexible material editing module. Material definitions are extensively used in engineering analysis, and WELSIM’s material module is user-friendly while covering almost all material properties used in engineering analyses. The material module also incorporates curve-fitting capabilities to derive material parameters from test data.

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(4) The unit module supports over 50 quantities and 16 unit systems. All unit properties are handled in the front end, eliminating the need for the solver to consider any unit conversions. More information can be found in the article “Quantities and units in general-purpose engineering simulation software.”

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(5) WELSIM offers a geometric model import functionality. It can swiftly read STEP format geometry files and display them in the 3D graphics window. The assembly model is supported. The built-in contact search feature can automatically identify contact pairs for assembly, so users will not need to manually define contact pairs.

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(6) WELSIM features a fully automatic meshing module that quickly generates finite element mesh for successive analysis.

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(7) WELSIM provides various analysis setting capabilities. Supported conditions include but are not limited to multi-step settings, linear algebra solver parameters, nonlinear solver coefficients, boundary conditions, field conditions, initial conditions, and more.

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(8) WELSIM enables direct solver invocation for computation while allowing users to configure the solver’s directory and path.

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(9) WELSIM offers extensive post-processing capabilities. Result files can be rapidly and efficiently read. Table and chart windows display maximum and minimum result values at each step. Moreover, WELSIM provides the function to record dynamic results into MP4 files and export result data to common formats, like VTK files.

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(10) An automated regression testing system is provided to ensure the accuracy and stability of the solvers. Additionally, all test cases are open-sourced. Users can also easily create their own test cases.

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Benefits of Using WELSIM as a Pre- and Post-Processor

There are numerous benefits to using WELSIM as the pre- and post-processor for solvers.

WELSIM significantly reduces development time by focusing development resources on the core solver. While simulation CAE software includes modules such as pre- and post-processing, solvers, and mesh generators, these modules have vastly different development approaches and tactics, often falling into entirely separate technology domains. Utilizing the WELSIM frontend eliminates the burdensome task of GUI development, allowing concentration on improving and enhancing the core solver, thereby enhancing the product.
WELSIM comes with an automated regression testing system, so solver developers do not need to spend efforts on creating another regression system. Regardless of the numerical methods being used, such as finite element, finite volume, or other scientific computing approaches, CAE software requires extensive automated testing to ensure solver accuracy. Establishing such a testing system can be resource-intensive. Leveraging WELSIM’s testing framework can save considerable development resources and time. See the article “Automated Regression Testing for General-Purpose Engineering Simulation CAE Software”.
Collaborating with WELSIM in the simulation and computation ecosystem leads to mutual development. After years of development, WELSIM has gained international recognition within ecosystems and communities. Using the WELSIM frontend enhances the brand image of the core solver, attracting more attention from the community.
WELSIM is user and collaborator-friendly. The development needs of users and collaborators are prioritized, aiming for prompt and speedy fulfillment.
WELSIM has been long-term supported. Solver developers do not need to worry about the discontinuity of WELSIM development and maintenance.
WELSIM already encompasses a wide range of frontend features for general-purpose CAE software, applicable to nearly any type of simulation analysis. It can quickly adapt to various new solvers.

Conclusion

WELSIM offers world-leading engineering simulation CAE pre- and post-processing modules. It continually contributes to the simulation community through its exceptional products and friendly approach to users and collaborators. Talented solver developers are encouraged to use WELSIM as a pre- and post-processor.

WELSIM is the #1 engineering simulation software for the open-source community.