MSC CoSim 2025.1

MSC CoSim 2025.1

MSC CoSim is a powerful co-simulation platform that enables the coupling of different engineering simulation software to solve multi-physics and system-level problems. It manages the data exchange and synchronization between disparate solvers—such as MSC Nastran (FEA), Adams (MBD), Marc (non-linear FEA), Actran (acoustics), Simcenter STAR-CCM+ (CFD), and even third-party tools like MATLAB/Simulink—allowing them to run concurrently as a single integrated simulation. This is essential for analyzing tightly coupled phenomena like fluid-structure interaction (FSI), aerothermoelasticity, mechatronics, and vibro-acoustics, where solving each physics in isolation is insufficient.

It is a key enabler for virtual system prototyping, allowing engineers to predict the performance of complex products where multiple physical domains interact.

Primary Users: CAE Analysts, Simulation Specialists, and System Engineers who need to couple different physics solvers (e.g., Structural, CFD, Controls, Electromagnetics) to simulate complex, interacting phenomena in a unified manner.

Key Features & Capabilities

CoSim is a manager and orchestrator for multi-solver simulations, not a solver itself.

Core Co-Simulation Orchestration:

1. Graphical Workflow Builder:

   • Drag-and-Drop Interface: Visually create co-simulation workflows by connecting icons representing different solver applications, data mappers, and signal processors.

   • Coupling Definition: Define the coupling scheme (explicit/loose, implicit/tight) and synchronization time steps between solvers.

2. Extensive Solver Integration:

   • Native MSC Integration: Deep, optimized integration with Hexagon’s solvers (Nastran, Adams, Marc, Actran, Dytran, Patran).

   • Third-Party & Open-Source Solver Support: Can interface with a wide range of tools including Simcenter STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent/Mechanical, Abaqus, LS-DYNA, MATLAB/Simulink, Excel, and user-defined programs via standard APIs (e.g., FMI/FMU).

3. Advanced Data Mapping & Interpolation:

   • Field Data Mapping: Accurately map data (e.g., pressures, temperatures, forces) between non-matching meshes of different solvers (e.g., from a CFD fluid mesh to an FEA structural mesh) using conservative or consistent interpolation methods.

   • Signal & Control Data Exchange: Handle the exchange of scalar and vector data between system-level tools (e.g., controls to mechanics).

4. Execution Management & Monitoring:

   • Parallel Execution: Manages the simultaneous execution of multiple solver processes on local machines, networks, or HPC clusters.

   • Real-time Monitoring: Monitor the progress of each solver and the exchanged data during the coupled run.

   • Robustness & Convergence: Includes tools to manage numerical stability in tightly coupled simulations.

🖥️ System Requirements

Requirements depend on the solvers being coupled. CoSim itself has modest needs, but the overall simulation demands are high.

Minimum System Requirements (for CoSim Manager):
Windows 10/11 (64-bit) or Linux 64-bit (RHEL, SLES), a multi-core Intel/AMD processor, 8 GB RAM, standard graphics, and 5 GB free disk space.

Recommended for Professional Co-Simulation Projects:
A powerful workstation or server with Windows 10/11 Pro/Linux, a high-core-count CPU, 32-64 GB+ RAM, and fast SSD storage. Access to an HPC cluster with a high-speed interconnect (InfiniBand) is often critical as the coupled solvers may run distributed across many cores. All coupled solver software must also be properly licensed and installed.