[Scons-users] SCons for Ansys APDL Analysis

[Bill Deegan]

How are dependencies specified?
Is there some syntax in the source file?

There's no fundamental reason SCons wouldn't be able to help with your
workflow.

BTW why use tools=['mingw'] ?


On Mon, Oct 17, 2022 at 7:34 AM Hubley, Christopher (GE Aerospace, US) <
Christopher.Hubley at ge.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> I've been researching the use of SCons for engineering analysis with Ansys
> Parametric Design Language (APDL).
>
> APDL is a Fortran-like scripting language, used for performing finite
> element analysis with the Ansys software.
>
> We typically generate analyses written in APDL which have complex sets of
> dependencies, and I'm hoping SCons will be able to help manage those.
>
> "Dependencies 1"                "Dependencies 2"
>     |                              |
>     |              +--Some files-->+              +--Some files-->+
>     |              |               |              |
>     v              |               v              |
> "Compile 1" --> "Results 1"     "Compile 2" --> "Results 2" ... and so on
> a hundred more times
>
> (this diagram will only be readable if you use a monospace font)
>
> It's not uncommon to edit dependencies for a load step ("compile") in the
> middle of a long analysis. It'd be great if we had a build tool which could
> detect changes to inputs and only compile load steps which have changed.
>
> I've managed to write a Builder using the Command() function, and it seems
> to work... but only just so.
>
> I find it difficult to share the output from one build as an input to the
> next build. Part of the problem might be that I'm new to the software and
> I've had a hard time wrapping my head around what Scons is doing under the
> hood for file management.
>
> What I'd like to do is run/build my each load step in a target directory,
> and then remove the dependencies from the build directory. I'm hoping SCons
> could decide whether to run a load step based on whether the input files
> have been updated.
>
> Here's an example of what I think the SCons scripts might look like:
>
> # SConstruct
> from site_scons import run_ansys
>
> ansys_version = '19.2'
>
> env = Environment(tools=['mingw'])
> env.Decider('timestamp-newer')
> env.AddMethod(ansys_runner, 'Ansys')
>
>
> # Frictionless Assembly
> assy_mu0_dir = Path('results/assembly_mu0').resolve()
> SConscript(
>     'analysis/assembly_mu0/SConscript',
>     variant_dir = str(assy_mu0_dir),
>     duplicate = True,
>     exports = ['env', 'assy_mu0_dir', 'ansys_version'],
> )
> # Import linked dependencies
> env.Import('assy_mu0_restart')
>
>
> # Frictional Assembly (restart from frictionless) assy_dir =
> Path('results/assembly').resolve()
> SConscript(
>     'analysis/assembly/SConscript',
>     variant_dir = str(assy_dir),
>     duplicate = True,
>     exports = ['env', 'ansys_version', 'assy_dir', 'assy_mu0_restart'],
> )
>
> .
> .
> .
>
> # analysis/assembly/SConscript (example of SConscript)
> from pathlib import Path
>
> Import('env', 'ansys_version', 'assy_dir', 'assy_mu0_restart')
>
> assy = 'HPC_2D_ASSY'
> assy_restart = tuple(
>     str(assy_mu0_dir / f'{assy}.{ext}')
>     for ext in ('db', 'emat', 'esav')
> )
> env.Ansys(
>     input_file = 'assy.inp',
>     output_files = (*assy_restart, f'{assy}.out'),
>     jobname = assy,
>     restart_files = assy_mu0_restart,
>     ansys_version = ansys_version,
> )
> env.Export('assy_restart')
>
>
> I suppose that my question is whether anyone has done this kind of thing
> with SCons before?
> And is the tool appropriate for that? Or am I just trying to push a rope?
>
> As I started laying it out, it seemed like I was writing a lot more code
> than I was anticipating to get it working.
>
> If this has been done before... are there any examples out in the world
> which I might be able to leverage?
>
>
> Christopher K. Hubley
> Senior Engineer, TFTJ Fan & Compressor
> GE Aviation
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