ASTEC engineers run computer simulations up to 9x faster with Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure

ASTEC Industries (ASTEC) builds equipment for every stage of road construction. Its engineers use computer simulations to mimic real-world conditions and to answer complex design questions. The company’s growing demand for simulation meant that on-premises computing limitations constrained the speed to solution, and some complex simulations had to be simplified to solve locally.

To fix this, ASTEC migrated some of its simulation workloads to Microsoft Azure using Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure.

Now, engineers run high-fidelity models up to nine times faster, making it possible to support even the most complex simulations. The migration removed bottlenecks for design teams, increased data capacity, and opened the door to boundary-pushing design capabilities.

Enhancing engineers’ designs with computer simulation

High-quality roadways foster connections between families and communities. To support the critical infrastructure that links people around the world, ASTEC provides state-of-the-art equipment to help its customers to build roads safely, sustainably, and profitably.

Providing customers with robust, reliable equipment relies on understanding complex particle and fluid dynamics within the machinery. “We use virtual analysis in our engineering work because it’s faster, it’s cheaper, and it does things that are difficult for us to do empirically or experimentally,” says Andrew Hobbs, Director of Advanced Technologies at ASTEC. “With simulation, we get a window into the unseen world of what’s happening inside our equipment, helping us produce better designs.”

ASTEC’s engineers use leading-edge simulation software from Microsoft partner Ansys for these simulations. However, the complexity of some models exposed the limits of ASTEC’s on-premises computing capacity. A single combustion simulation can involve hundreds of simulated chemical reactions. These simulations generally take several days to run, and some of the most complex simulations could not be performed at all.

Unlocking high-performance computing to run simulations with 35 million elements

To overcome these computing limitations, ASTEC became an early adopter of Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure. By combining Ansys software with Azure high-performance computing (HPC), ASTEC’s engineers are running simulations—including burner combustion involving 35 million mesh cells and 105 chemical reactions—eight to nine times faster.

ASTEC’s migration to Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure is also helping its engineers to solve more complex problems. For example, ASTEC engineers can now model hydrogen combustion in an existing burner that uses fuel oil and natural gas, a feat the company could not have achieved with its on-premises computing capabilities.

“With Ansys and Azure, we’ve been able to unlock the on-demand capacity that we need for the bigger, high-priority jobs,” says Hobbs. “Working with Ansys has made it easy to use this solution without extra work on the front end.”

Supercharging engineering productivity

The cloud migration is fueling astonishing productivity gains for ASTEC’s engineers. The company uses Azure Virtual Machines to scale capacity as needed. Engineers can run multiple simulations simultaneously and have more time to experiment with design changes.

“We can deliver results to our internal teams more quickly, and simulations no longer hold up their project timelines,” says Dipika Gongal, Senior Simulation Engineer at ASTEC. “Working in the cloud is just as easy as working on your desktop, only it’s much faster.”

ASTEC’s engineers can also transfer hundreds of gigabytes of data seamlessly and securely using Azure file shares, helping to support ASTEC’s sensitive simulation data. “I hadn’t really appreciated that capability until we started using it and found out how much faster and convenient it is,” says Hobbs. 

Empowering customers with refined engineering designs

ASTEC has ambitious plans to use the combined capabilities of Ansys and Azure to create more holistic multiphysics simulation and use simulation data to train surrogate AI models for digital twins. ASTEC’s engineers expect that simulation-driven insights will continue to enhance equipment design and operation for customers.

“We love the technology, but really, it’s about the product that we’re producing and what that helps our customers to do,” says Hobbs.

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