How to Run Ansys HFSS (Electronics) on Nimbix

This workflow description refers to accessing ANSYS HFSS from ANSYS Electronics Desktop (aka AEDT). Under the ANSYS Electronics Desktop, one can still perform coupling with other ANSYS packages such as ANSYS Icepak, AEDT Circuit Design, etc. For all other coupling such as ANSYS Icepak Classic, ANSYS Fluent HFSS should be accessed through ANSYS Workbench interface (description in a separate article).  

To access HFSS from Ansys Electronics, the following steps are required:

1. Select your application from the Compute from NIMBIX interface

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2. Cloud set-up screen opens

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UNDER GENERAL TAB

1. Under Machine type drop down, when clicked, you have the choice of selecting the type of machine you want to run your job on. The decision on machine type selection, is based on size and complexity of your model and cost associated with the machine type (some machines will have higher RAM, others will only run the job on single CPU, others will have better graphics and therefore higher cost, etc). When running interactive based applications, you’ll find that selecting an NC9 or any NC* machine types should offer significant visual performance over not selecting an NC machine type. By selecting an NC machine, this places a GPU on your head-node, and offers better visual performance. Another thing to keep in mind, is that when running interactively you can use a web-browser, or in some cases for large models or you might consider using RealVNC.

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2. Select the number of core:

The machine type you selected in the previous step, will dictate the increment in the number of cores that you can select. For a small model, you can leave default selection, which in this case would be “16” or move the scroll bar to the desired number of cores or simply type over “16” the number of cores you wish to run your job on (“32” in this case):

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NOTE: Do not confuse number of cores with number of nodes (nodes represent the number of machines that you selected. Each machine has a set amount of cores. In the example above, 2 nodes represent 32 cores).

UNDER OPTIONAL TAB

1. Assign a JOB LABEL (give a name that will help you keep track on your running jobs. For example, My_Microstrip):

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UNDER STORAGE TAB

1. Select vault type: Default vault is “Elastic_File”

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The “Elastic_File” vault is recommended for small to medium size jobs, such as Icepak projects, simple linear Mechanical Analysis projects, some HFSS and simple Fluent projects (not multi-phase). For any complex and computationally heavy jobs, and where partitioning the job over number of cores becomes challenging, the Performance_SSD vault is strongly recommended. The Performance_SSD vault can be found in the drop-down under “Select Vault” tab (NOTE: requires subscription and extra monthly payment to have access to Performance_SSD vault).

 

Before submitting your job for running, you can preview your settings under the PREVIEW SUBMISSION tab.

 

Dismiss the subsequent windows by clicking the “OK” button to start AEDT application.

After Electronics Desktop has successfully launched, save your project in your “data” directory (Caution: Default option is Ansoft folder and that is not where you want your job saved or run).

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Once Electronics Desktop window opens, you should insert a new HFSS design and give your project a name (for example: My_Microstrip or else an Asterix* will show next to Project).

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To start creating your microstrip geometry and set up the project, please proceed with the following steps (NOTE: this is just a representative example, and not all steps may apply or are relevant for a different HFSS application):

1. Assign solution type (Driven Terminal is recommended for a patch antenna analysis)

2. Create your geometry (for a microstrip antenna the geometry consists of: substrate, ground plane, antenna patch, source):

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NOTE: Use project parameters to parametrize your design (if optimization/optimetrics) are needed later.

3. Create a vacuum box at least ¼ wavelength above the substrate:

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4. Insert Boundary conditions (as required) – This example uses Perfect E for the ground plane and patch

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5. Insert Excitations (lumped port inside the domain – brings energy into the system). The excitation in this example is a rectangular port between the patch and the ground plane.

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6. Apply any desired mesh operation (HFSS uses Adaptive meshing which for most of your project should be a fine enough mesh and no extensive meshing knowledge is required; if mesh refinement is desired in certain regions or for your entire model, you can either introduce a mesh operation or change initial mesh settings to further refine the initial mesh).

7. Insert the Analysis sweep setup (if a sweep is desired; this is application based and not all projects require a sweep).

8. Insert an infinite sphere if you want to compute far field effects.

9. Run the analysis by right clicking on the Analysis setup in your project tree. You can track the progress of your project by clicking the “Progress” button. The progress bar will be displayed (check messages on distributing the job with MPI)

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Any warning or error messages can be accessed in the “Messages” windows (press “Messages” button next to “Progress” to display the message window). Some messages are just simply warnings and can be ignored, others were created as you were building the model and errors were fixed. Any error that is shown in red is an indication that action must be taken. As a good habit, clear the messages before you start your run to better keep track of new messages that may appear during your run.

To analyze the status of memory and CPU usage during your run, for small models, check your “Detailed Job Metrics”. If 2 nodes are selected but only one is needed, you will see the low CPU utilization as shown below Use only one node when you run jobs that are similar in size (otherwise it’s waste of money and resources). 

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Larger models may take advantage and distribute the work over both nodes at 100% of CPU utilization (consider using more cores next time you have models that are complex or for complex CAD imported geometries, etc).

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10. Insert results based on the desired data that you wish you obtain from your analysis (returned losses, realized gain, field overlays, optimetrics, etc).

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Seems that this strip is matched on 17.3 GHz.

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11. Save your work and exit the software when finished (ensure the job is closed before closing your browser).

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