Show recommended configuration

Introduction

Flux can provide recommendations for settings related to the resolution of a scenario (e.g., solver configuration, number of cores and parametric distribution settings). This information may be used to improve the resolution of a Flux project, by optimizing the use of the available hardware and by reducing the total computation time.

The following topics are covered in this page:

How to display the recommended configurations for a scenario

The recommendations may be obtained by right-clicking a scenario in the Data Tree and then selecting the Show recommended configuration command, as shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1. Right-clicking on a scenario in the Data Tree for selecting the Show recommended command.
Note: These recommendations are also displayed in the Output Console just after the creation of a scenario. Partial information will also be displayed after running a Check physics command (Physics → Check physics).

Output of Show recommended configuration command

Selecting the command Show recommended configuration for a given scenario will display two tables with information in the Output console.

The first is the Project summary table, which provides the following information:
  • the dimension or Flux module (2D plane, 2D Axisymmetric, 3D or Skew);
  • the application of the project;
  • the number of the nodes in the mesh (which may be equal to zero if the geometry has not been meshed);
  • the number of layers (in the case of Flux Skew projects) and
  • the name of the scenario.

The second table provides the user with the Current settings and also with Recommendations for the selected scenario, concerning both solver and parametric distribution options. The following data is available:

  • the Number of cores used by the application for parallel computing and defined in Flux Supervisor (current and recommended);
  • the Linear solver type, which is configured in the menu Solving→ Solving process options (current and recommended);
  • if Parametric distribution is Enabled or Disabled (current setting and recommended setting);
  • if the Scenario option required to enable parametric distribution is Selected or Not selected (current setting and recommended setting);
  • if the Supervisor option required to enable parametric distribution is Selected or Not selected (current setting and recommended setting);
  • the Number of concurrent Flux instances adjusted in Flux Supervisor, if parametric distribution has been configured there (current and recommended);
  • the Number of cores per concurrent Flux instance adjusted in Flux Supervisor, if parametric distribution has been configured there (current and recommended).

Figure 2 below displays a typical output of the command in the Output console.

Figure 2. Example of output from the 'Show recommended configuration' command in the Output console.

Implementing the recommended settings

To follow the recommendations provided by the Show recommended configuration command, the user is referred to the following user guide pages:

Specificities and limitations

The following specificities and limitations should be considered when using the Show recommended configuration command:

  • This command is intended for a meshed project, with a complete physical description and containing a scenario that is ready to be solved. Running it in an incompletely described project is possible, but at least the mesh of the physical regions needs to be available. Executing the command in an unmeshed project leads to a warning and no actual recommendations.
  • In 3D, the mesh is most frequently composed by first order elements, but Flux may re-mesh regions automatically with second order elements during resolution, if required by the built-in formulations. This behavior should be considered when using this feature in Flux 3D, since the mesh size impacts the recommended settings. Consequently, displaying the recommended settings in 3D in a project with a first order mesh will trigger a warning to remember the user about this specific behavior.
  • This feature is not available in the electric applications of Flux 2D and Flux 3D (i.e., Electric Conduction, Electro Static, Steady State AC Electric, Transient Electric and Electrolysis applications).
  • This feature is not available in the Magneto Static - Integral Method application of Flux 3D either.