MITx’s edX Course Leverages Akselos for Complex Engineering Simulations on Google Compute Engine

Akselos is a platform that enables engineers to design and assess critical infrastructure through advanced simulation software. The software is used by students around the world participating in MIT’s massive open online course, Elements of Structure. Akselos is also used by a growing community of engineers globally. The company aims to put powerful simulation technology into the hands of as many people as possible to enhance design and analysis workflows across many engineering disciplines.

Engineering simulations are a critical part of designing and assessing infrastructure such as bridges, buildings, and aircraft. However, the industry-standard technology, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), is computationally intensive and often unfeasible for large-scale 3D simulations. These simulations require large amounts of RAM, often exceeding the capacity of a desktop workstation, and can take hours or even days of computation time. This is particularly problematic when time is at a premium and engineers need to perform hundreds or thousands of simulations for a piece of critical infrastructure. Additionally, attempts to integrate simulations within university courses have been unsuccessful due to the complexity of the tools.

Akselos, a platform built on Google Compute Engine, aims to make high-end simulation technology faster and easier to access. Its software is based on new algorithms that are 1000x faster than FEA for large-scale, highly detailed simulations. Each simulation model is composed of hundreds or thousands of components, each with various properties or geometry that can be changed with a click of a button. To handle this large data footprint, Akselos utilizes Google’s storage solutions and Replica Pools to scale its computing resources. Akselos was initially deployed on Google Compute Engine when Dr. Simona Socrate, a Senior Lecturer at MIT, decided to integrate its fast simulation technology into her structural analysis course on edX. Akselos developed a series of WebGL browser apps to support the course’s learning experience and deployed the simulation back-end on Compute Engine.

• The deployment of Akselos on Google Compute Engine has been successful, with the software running without a hitch during the 4 month course. The students had a very positive response to the integration of the simulation apps into the course, which allowed them to explore subtle effects in structural mechanics in an interactive and visual way. This has opened up new possibilities for integrating simulations within university courses. Furthermore, Akselos's cloud-based simulation platform is now used by a growing community of engineers around the world, enhancing design and analysis workflows across many engineering disciplines.

• Akselos's algorithms are 1000x faster than the industry-standard Finite Element Analysis for large-scale, highly detailed simulations.

• The software can handle hundreds or thousands of components in each simulation model.

• Akselos was able to sustain up to 15,000 simulation queries per hour at 99.9% uptime during the 4 month course.