HiPerSim4All: SMEs fit for the product development of tomorrow
In September 2021, the HiPerSim4All project funded by the European Social Fund and the Upper Franconia Foundation came to an end. And the success story continues.
Numerical simulation is becoming increasingly important in the development of products and processes. In addition, the level of detail of computer-aided design is also increasing. Both lead to a large demand for computing power, which poses great challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular. The use of high-performance computing (HPC) systems is one way to meet this challenge.
But the hurdles for integrating such systems into operational processes are very high. This is where the HiPerSim4All project of the Engineering Design & CAD research group at the University of Bayreuth came in, which was successfully completed in September 2021. The goal was to provide product developers with the necessary knowledge as well as the required tools and infrastructure for HPC so that even complex simulations can be carried out efficiently.
Two main problem areas were identified in the course of the project. These are, firstly, the lack of the know-how required to use the technology profitably and, secondly, the high financial outlay required to provide the appropriate hardware and software with their associated peripherals.
The btrzx4 HPC cluster
As part of the project, the btrzx4 HPC cluster was procured and set up and put into operation by the IT Service Centre of the University of Bayreuth. Btrzx4 was available free of charge to all project participants to gain experience in the field of HPC and to realise their own initial projects. To support this, various training courses were held on the topics of
- numeric simulations,
- computer architecture, and
- parallelization
developed and conducted in coordination with project participants.
Exterior view (left) and interior (right) of the computing cluster btrzx4 made available to project participants.
The project partners
The business fields of the project partners are very heterogeneous. Among other parties, the following have joined in
- engineering firms specialising in design and simulation,
- companies from mechanical and plant engineering
- service providers in the field of artificial intelligence.
Consequently, there was also a wide range of different projects in which the Engineering Design & CAD research group was able to support the partners.
HiPerSim4All project participants from the very beginning at the Kickoff 2018.
However, there were also topics that affected all project participants equally, such as the complex data transfer and the evaluation of simulation results. Many project partners have their company headquarters in rural areas with limited broadband connections, which is why the initially envisaged workflow - simulation on btrzx4, evaluation locally - proved to be impractical. To mediate this, a terminal server system was set up in the network of the University of Bayreuth and made available to project participants. With this terminal server, it was possible to carry out all data transfer-intensive work steps remotely in the cluster network.
Schematic representation of the network of companies that was created in the course of the HiPerSim4All project.
Altogether, the HiPerSim4All project has created a network of 17 Bavarian companies with a total of 34 participants. Fourteen training blocks were developed and carried out, and a large number of scientific and non-scientific publications were produced.
On behalf of the Chair of Engineering Design and CAD, we would like to thank all those involved in the HiPerSim4All project for their professional, constructive cooperation, and ESF, the Free State of Bavaria, and Oberfrankenstiftung for their funding.