Run AcuSolve

This file is required for results visualization. Deletion may render the output database unreadable. If this file is deleted, it will need to be recreated by running AcuSolve again.

Once the mesh process is complete, all of the boundary conditions are prepared and the solution strategy has been set, exporting the problem from AcuConsole generates a set of files needed for AcuPrep and AcuSolve. The mesh is exported into a directory with default name MESH.DIR and the input file is written to <problem>.inp.

The input file is the most critical item associated with an AcuSolve simulation. It provides reference to all settings needed to initialize the solver with a series of command statements. The command statements may reference various other files that are associated with the mesh, initial conditions, boundary conditions or user subroutines.

The .inp file should be kept as a reference to the simulation, and along with MESH.DIR, these file comprise the simulation input. If either .inp or MESH.DIR are removed, it will not be possible to run the solver. These will need to be recreated prior to solving the problem.

The files written to MESH.DIR are identical to those written by AcuMeshSim into MESHSIM.DIR if no modifications to the mesh are made within AcuConsole. It is possible to perform remeshing operations using AcuMeshSim directly and simply reference the files within MESHSIM.DIR in the input file.

AcuSolve is typically launched by a wrapper script called AcuRun. AcuRun controls the simulation procedure for AcuSolve. It requires that the input files, as described above, are properly referenced and available for the executable to read. First, AcuRun executes AcuPrep. AcuPrep will read the .inp file and generate a series of new files associated with the current run identifier. Since AcuSolve relies on a complete set of commands that are not explicitly defined in the .inp file, a new file <problem>.ss.inc is created to expand on the AUTO_SOLUTION_STATEGY command. The .inc file contains several additional commands associated with the solution strategy that may or may not have been defined in the .inp file. If not defined in the .inp file, commands such as TIME_SEQUENCE, TIME_INCREMENT, STAGGER, and CONVERGENCE_CHECK_PARAMETERS are automatically defined in the .inc file based on the default settings. The .inc file is then referenced by the INCLUDE command to fully define the solution strategy.

AcuPrep also generates a file with the extension .echo. The .echo file gives a complete listing of all commands required to run AcuSolve. Everything included in the .inp file and the .inc file are written to this file, which serves as a record of the full settings for each run that was made.

Once AcuPrep is complete, AcuRun executes AcuView (if necessary), followed by AcuSolve. AcuSolve generates a series of files that comprise the output from the simulation. The primary file associated with the output that you will interact with is the .Log file, by default named <problem>.<run ID>.Log. The .Log file provides a summary of the simulation progress and includes information from AcuPrep, AcuView, and AcuSolve. The .Log file also serves as a reference for loading the simulation results into various post processing applications, including AcuProbe, AcuFieldView, and HyperView. Note that these applications only parse the .Log file to extract the problem name, run ID, and working directory. The actual data that is loaded into the post-processing tools is read using an API to the AcuSolve solution database, which requires problem name, run ID and working directory as input.