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It was released over 20 years ago and has become popular ever since.

If you think about it, it generally follows the CFD / computational process that pretty much exists in most simulation workflows to this day…

CAD → Mesh → Solve → Results

It’s a structured, proven codebase that works for a wide range of physics problems.

I even developed a clear, concise, no-fluff manual to make it absolutely easy to use. Read more about it here if you missed that!

Common roadblocks

Whilst it can be easier to use with clarity and determination, some things stand in the way of beginners:

  • It’s poorly documented

  • It can crash without warning / error messages

  • It doesn’t have a graphical user interface (GUI) and works in the command-line (CLI)

  • There is no official support available

BUT it is free (at least money-wise) – there are no licence fees whatsoever.
And together with proven results, it’s usually what brings swathes of people back to it!

Will AI make tools like this any easier?

AI chatbots like chatGPT is only as good as the information you give it.
But it isn’t very good at setting up a non-trivial case from scratch. (Believe me, I know).

The real promise is in the form of “PINN’s” – AI that is physics-aware and doesn’t use a mesh!

Above source: https://www.mathworks.com/discovery/physics-informed-neural-networks.html

But it’s a current and relatively new research area, so….

For those interested, there are “agentic” automated workflow tools popping up, but it would be interesting to see how their capabilities develop.

Practical applications matter most

Here’s the thing – for Engineers like me and you, the practical application is what matters.

I’ve always had an Engineering-first / problem-first mindset.

Asking things like…

  • “What is the design issue?”

  • “What are we actually trying to solve here?”

  • “Can we do without [insert specific tool]?”

It’s not the tools that are difficult – you can always learn how to use them at any stage of your career.

Focusing on the fundamentals of your discipline will be the key to keeping nimble, valuable and confident as we move into the future together.

At least this is what I firmly believe after 12+ years as a Senior Mechanical Engineer and software programmer of CAE tools.

This week on my YouTube channel:

I’m working on creating videos consistently and sharing my career / industry experiences with you, so keep an eye on the channel over the next few days and weeks.

See you soon. 👋

Nasser

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