Discovery FEA provides instantaneous simulation, tightly coupled with direct geometry modelling, to enable interactive design exploration and rapid product innovation. It is an interactive experience in which you can manipulate geometry, materials and physics, and instantaneously see 3-D results.
Every engineer deserves the power of Discovery
Discovery is the first simulation-driven design tool to combine instant physics simulation, proven high-fidelity simulation and interactive geometry modeling in a single user experience. Leveraging the all-new Discovery early in your product design processes will drive substantial gains in engineering productivity, spur innovation and increase your product’s overall performance.
Answer critical design questions earlier, without waiting days or weeks for traditional simulation results.
- Quickly prepare models for simulation or create design variations for study
- Rapidly explore multiple design concepts with real-time interactive simulation
- Refine insights with high-fidelity simulation and additional conditions

Structural Analysis
Discovery is breaking down the barriers that once prevented any engineer from using engineering simulation. For example, consider the difficulty involved with performing a structural analysis on complicated geometry. In Discovery, near-instant simulation results appear once loads have been established. And, because Discovery is interactive, you can test several design ideas in a few seconds and receive immediate insight around the structural performance of a design. When you’ve selected a candidate, leverage proven Ansys solver technology to provide additional detail and calculate a high-fidelity result for increased confidence.
Topology Optimization
Discovery introduces the first-ever, interactive topology optimization tool for generative design. Easily evaluate a broad spectrum of product behaviors and uncover optimal design solutions in record time. Topology optimization capabilities account for manufacturing constraints and can be applied to multiple load cases and physics, including modal and structural simulations.

Modal Analysis
Discovery’s instant engineering feedback extends to even complex modal analyses. You can quickly observe the different modes of vibration and get a quick understanding of problem frequencies. With the rapid, direct geometry editing powered by Discovery SpaceClaim, you can make adjustments to your model and instantly see the impact. Discovery’s simulation-guided design will accelerate your product development, help avoid delays, and ensure you are designing the best products possible.

Parameter Studies
Also known as parameter sweeps, these design point studies create a Pareto frontier of data in Discovery that lets you explore a large number of design possibilities by varying multiple geometric or simulation parameters in an automated fashion. Setting up a study is simple. You can choose several geometry or physics input parameters to evaluate simultaneously. Because the geometry creation and resulting simulation are automated, this capability rapidly lets you try new ideas, obtain results and better understand trends and trade-offs between design goals.

Thermal Analysis
With Discovery you can spend more time exploring questions and answers and less time negotiating traditional simulation processing steps. It provides real-time data on temperature distribution as you make 3-D model changes, or change input characteristics like heat flow and material type. Most importantly, Discovery lets you test your ideas in real-time to achieve your design goals in a fraction of the time.

Upfront simulation has been proven to boost ROI across your organization by:
- Decreasing engineering labor and physical prototyping costs
- Slashing prototyping and testing costs
- Minimizing engineering change orders and maximizing your design alternatives and ideation
Discovery is breaking down the barriers that once prevented any engineer from using engineering simulation. For example, consider the difficulty involved with performing a structural analysis on complicated geometry. In Discovery, near-instant simulation results appear once loads have been established. And, because Discovery is interactive, you can test several design ideas in a few seconds and receive immediate insight around the structural performance of a design. When you’ve selected a candidate, leverage proven Ansys solver technology to provide additional detail and calculate a high-fidelity result for increased confidence.