Simulation FAQs
Flux is an AI hardware engineer. It simulates and analyzes the complete device: the electronics, the mechanical parts, the power system, the air flow, and how the device moves. See Simulation with Flux.
General
What can Flux simulate and analyze?
Flux can simulate and analyze the complete device:
Electronics and PCB: Circuits, routed traces, impedance, S-parameters, antennas, and board temperatures.
Mechanical parts and assemblies: Stress, deflection, heat conduction, fit, clearance, mass properties, beams, frames, and cross-section properties.
Power, batteries, and motors: Power budgets, battery run time, and motor and gearbox sizing.
Air and liquid flow: Air flow and heat transfer, convection cooling, liquid cooling, pressure drop, and drag.
Robots and drones: Robot reach, self-collision, joint loads, and drone or aircraft flight.
Use the results to refine the design. Flux can size parts, update the board or a mechanical part, and write flight controller settings.
How do I start a simulation?
Describe the device and the analysis you need. Flux uses the schematic, board, and 3D parts in your project, and asks for missing values.
How do I compare results after a design change?
Run the same analysis again with the same circuit values, frequencies, board conditions, loads, boundary conditions, and supports. Ask Flux to compare the results and explain how the values and plots changed.
Electronics and PCB
How do I simulate a circuit?
Describe the circuit or ask Flux to use the schematic in your project. Provide component values and source conditions, then specify a sweep range or transient time interval. Flux returns operating-point values, sweeps, waveforms, and plots for voltage, current, gain, ripple, and frequency response.
What can electromagnetic analysis show?
Flux analyzes routed traces and differential pairs for impedance, S-parameters such as S11 and S21, crosstalk, time-domain response, eye diagrams, and field maps. For an antenna, Flux reports gain, efficiency, radiation pattern, input impedance, and near-field maps.
Can Flux help me set impedance and stackup rules?
Yes. Give Flux the board layer count, material, interface requirements, and target impedance. Ask it to define the stackup, layer roles, and trace rules. After routing, ask Flux to measure the routed impedance and compare it with the target.
Can Flux analyze a via transition or an antenna?
Yes. Ask Flux to analyze a routed via transition or antenna net. Give it the net name and frequency range. Flux reports S-parameters for a via transition and gain, efficiency, radiation pattern, and field maps for an antenna.
Can Flux analyze S-parameter files I already have?
Yes. Upload Touchstone files (.s1p, .s2p, .s4p) from a measurement or vendor. Ask Flux to plot them, convert them to impedance or time-domain response, de-embed fixtures, or compare them with your simulated board.
How do I analyze PCB temperatures?
Give Flux the board's operating conditions, such as input voltage and load currents, or the dissipated power for each component. Flux can calculate component powers from operating conditions and datasheet values. It returns component temperatures and a summary heat map. Ask Flux to explain the temperature results or compare them after a layout change.
Mechanical parts and assemblies
Can Flux analyze stress, deflection, or heat conduction?
Yes. Provide the part's material, loads, and support conditions. For heat conduction, provide the heat input and ambient temperature. Flux reports stress, deflection, or temperature values with units and locations. See Mechanical Design with Flux.
Can Flux check fit, clearance, and tool access?
Yes. Flux checks fit, clearance, and swept envelopes of moving parts, and tool access for assembly. It also analyzes beams and frames, and calculates cross-section area, moment of inertia, and section modulus.
Can Flux calculate mass, center of mass, and inertia?
Yes. Ask Flux for the mass properties of a part or full assembly. Flux uses material values for custom parts and datasheet values for bought parts.
Air and liquid flow
Can Flux simulate air flow and liquid cooling?
Yes. Ask Flux to simulate air flow and heat transfer inside a device, enclosure, or around a board. Include vents, fans, or heatsinks to model natural or forced convection. For liquid cooling, describe the cold plate or channel and its flow conditions. Flux reports peak and outlet temperatures, flow rates, and pressure drops with units and locations. The report lists the geometry, fluid and solid regions, boundary conditions, heat loads, and materials used for the simulation.
Power, batteries, and motors
Can Flux calculate power budgets?
Yes. Ask Flux to calculate a power budget for each rail. Provide load currents and operating modes, or ask Flux to read them from the datasheets. Flux sizes regulators, power paths, and trace widths from the budget.
Can Flux calculate battery run time and heat?
Yes. Give Flux the load profile and cell type. Flux reports voltage under load, current, C-rate, run time, and heat. It can also run a detailed electrochemical cell model in addition to the pack equations to report cell voltage under load, run time, and heat for the load profile.
Can Flux size a motor and gearbox?
Yes. Give Flux the output torque and speed. Flux sizes the motor and gear ratio, then checks current, voltage, heat, and the motor driver rating.
Robots and drones
Can Flux analyze robot motion?
Yes. Describe the robot's links, joints, actuators, payload, and poses. Flux checks reach, self-collision, joint or wheel loads, and motor sizing for arms, grippers, pan-tilt heads, wheeled bases, and legged robots.
Can Flux simulate drone and aircraft flight?
Yes. Give Flux the drone or aircraft mass, inertia, motors, propellers, battery, and flight conditions. Flux simulates hover, forward flight, climb, endurance, or response to a gust. Flux can write a checked flight controller settings file for the sized drone, with the frame, motor map, battery, and failsafe limits.