Altair SimSolid Reviews & Product Details

It is brilliant to have a reliable FEA alternative in the cloud which frees up my PC for other tasks, and solves large assemblies quickly. It is great that if I upload new STEP files to the same project, the software copies the analysis settings to the new files. Great that there are no installs to deal with. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Simsolid Cloud is too restrictive on the number of bodies/facets it can handle, which means I often have to simplify the geometry- a task that shouldn't be required with this software! I understand the cloud version might need some restrictions here, but if I could double the amount of bodies or facets, this would make analysis of large frames much more usable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

That it is so simple and easy to learn how to use, no unneccessary functions. It is working very well to add files for simulation/calculation to SimSolid, when it approves files such as Parasolid, STL and Inventor, which I usually work with. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really dislike that you can not Undo and Redo (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y) in Altair SimSolid. This is really frustrating many times, especially if I accidentally delete something. I do not like how difficult it is to find support and answers on my questions related to Altair SimSolid online, searching on the internet. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It is very capable as it can handle levels of detail and number of parts that other traditional softwares just wouldn't be able to. It is really qucik to solve so feedback loop is short. It also has some really great features and depth of analyses such as the random vibration and thermal. Interface is pretty simple to use and it has a relatively easy flow. PDM link to Onshape is great and I want more of this please! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It can struggle on some geometry, quality of CAD seems to be indicative of qaulity of results. It is getting to be quite a lot of tokens to run but the basic package is still helpful. Would be amazing to link to other HM tools. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Easy to use, it allows quick iterations to support designers. A lot of tutorials are available on the web and the support, for quite tricky models (dynamic ones), is very helpfull and reactive. The way the welds can be analysed allows very efficient post-treatment. The software installation and maintenance is easy to manage. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The main issue is that Simsolid, whatever the benchmarks results, is not yet knowned sufficiently. That can be an heavy task to convince customers and partners to be confident in the results of the analysis. It can be seen as a project risk. Another point is the licence management (nominative) that make difficult to share the tool with colleague. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

1) Extremely simple to use, quick customer support, and easy to pick up and apply.

2) The Solving time is quite impressive in simple static simulations with linear/non-linear materials.

3) Modal Analysis results are quite good and fast.

4) Very ease to setup boundary conditions, and loading force.

5) Very good features of bolted connection and spot weld joints, which make it quick and simple to apply.

6) Very usefull for analysing 3D printed components.

7) Perfect for complicated Geometry, large assemblies undergoing only remote loads with simple contacts like Bonded , frictional.

8) Auto arranging of Assembly and connections geometry is good, defining the contacts region is so simple and speedy.

9) Easly integrated with other CAD softwares for importing the models.

10) Performed well in case where traditional FEA have mesh sensitive results. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

1) Non-linear with separating contacts are not yet supported.

2) After certain number of steps, when the geometry starts showing large deflection, the SimSolid starts showing errors and distortion.

3) Very Limited connections options.

4) Cannot add desired incremental test points, have to create induvial studies. Also, cannot plot specific required results graphs like force vs displacement for these specific points.

5) Does not have option constrain a specific Axis DOF.

6) Cannot justify the solution settings of Max. number of passes and refinement option. Changing these settings results in significant change in results so it is not reliable option to have. Need more robust guidelines of using these features.

7) Seperating contacts with non-linear geometry is still not supported yet.

8) Cannot request desired output graphs, like Reaction force vs Displacement. Have to manually record results for each point. And also, cannot assign Displacement Vs Time graph as well for input.

9) Contacts names can have more justified name like separating contacts and separating/closing are difficult to use according to their usability.

10) The GUI and viewing the geometry experience like Pan, rotate can be improved. While pan-ing and rotating the model, sometimes the animations will stick in the process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The ease of creating large models with several components quickly and which provides very fast responses due to the fact that it does not work with finite elements.

I also recently didn't like to know that Altair is changing the AU policy for using SimSolid. The 2024 version will have to have more AU than I purchased and paid for maintenance, making it impossible to use the software in the 2024 version. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It needs to improve the response and post-processing options, with more configuration options for the interface and the items that make up the post-processing window. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Altair SimSolid is a highly efficient structural analysis tool that eliminates the need for traditional meshing, significantly speeding up the simulation process while maintaining high accuracy. Its user-friendly interface and ability to handle complex assemblies make it accessible and versatile, supporting a wide range of analysis types. With seamless CAD integration and cloud-enabled performance, SimSolid enhances productivity by delivering reliable results quickly, without the need for extensive infrastructure. These features collectively make it an invaluable asset for design engineers looking to streamline their workflows and improve overall efficiency. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

While Altair SimSolid excels in speed, efficiency and ease of use, it has some drawbacks,has high licensing costs, and offers limited tutorials, which can hinder new users. Despite these cons, it remains a powerful tool for many structural analysis applications. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Welds and contact conditions are much easier to define in SimSolid than other FEA codes that I have used in the past. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Not being able to edit geometry in SimSolid. It would be extremely helpful to be able to increase or decrease the thickness of plate elements directly in the software based on the results. As it stands right now, these changes need to be made on the original CAD model then re-imported for reanalysis. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Designers can make more simulations themselves to save time of simulation experts. Relatively big models can be solved ny using their laptop. Also for simulation expert it saves time when simulating thin structures natural frequencies. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

FEM solvers like Optistruct are faster when used in large server as simulation expert. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like the simplicity of SimSolid. Also, the results are quite correlate with fea results so I go on use the simsolid for first couple of iteration until i am confident that design can go ahead for fea. I also like the simplicity of how it captures the weld. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Some error prompts it can improve to let user know where it has made mistake. Or some default actions which user must do before firing simulation by making those option by default appeared Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.