Cloud Meets Complexity: SimScale and Hexagon Put Marc Nonlinear FEA at Engineers’ Fingertips
Engineering simulation just got a whole lot more accessible—and significantly more powerful. Today, SimScale, the AI-native cloud platform for engineering simulation, and Hexagon’s Design and Engineering division announced the general availability of Marc, the industry-standard nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) solver, now embedded directly within the SimScale platform.
This move brings serious simulation firepower into the cloud, enabling engineers, product designers, and R&D teams to run advanced nonlinear analyses—including large deformation, complex contact, and hyperelastic materials—straight from their browser. No local installs. No HPC clusters. Just scalable, AI-enhanced simulation on demand.
SimScale + Marc: A New Era for Nonlinear FEA
Marc has long been a heavyweight in the FEA world—renowned for its ability to handle nonlinear material behaviors and contact scenarios where traditional solvers tend to break down or get stuck. Now, thanks to SimScale’s fully cloud-native interface and AI-integrated workflows, Marc’s capabilities are available to anyone with a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection.
Engineers can run simulations involving self-contact, plastic deformation, thermal coupling, and other gnarly nonlinearities early in the design process—without needing to be experts in solver syntax or server configuration. That’s a big win for startups, mid-sized firms, and large enterprises looking to trim costly iteration cycles and hardware overhead.
Why This Matters: Democratizing the Tough Stuff
Simulation tools have historically required deep technical chops, steep licensing costs, and local horsepower—three things not every engineering team has lying around. SimScale’s mission has been to flatten that learning curve and eliminate barriers to entry. By bringing Marc to its web-based platform, the company has essentially thrown open the gates to nonlinear simulation, one of the most technically demanding areas of engineering analysis.
Here’s what users get with the SimScale-Marc integration:
- Fast, Reliable Nonlinear Simulation: Industry-grade Marc performance, minus the setup friction.
- True Cloud Accessibility: Run, view, and collaborate on simulations from any browser.
- AI-Powered Automation: Smart suggestions, predictive insights, and hands-free simulation workflows.
- Massive Scalability: High-performance compute resources spin up on demand.
- Multi-Physics in One Place: Structural, thermal, magnetic, and electrical all on a unified platform.
SimScale’s AI tools help automate tedious setup steps, suggest optimal mesh settings, and predict results even before a full simulation runs—turning what used to be a week-long task into something closer to a coffee break.
The Big Picture: Moving Beyond CAD to AI-Augmented Design
This launch doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The engineering simulation market is undergoing a major transformation. Generative AI, cloud platforms, and democratized tooling are combining to break the monopoly of traditional, on-prem simulation suites. Competitors like Ansys Cloud, OnScale, and Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE are all making cloud-native moves, but SimScale’s partnership with Hexagon positions it as one of the few platforms offering industrial-grade nonlinear solvers with an interface simple enough for non-experts—and AI smart enough to assist them along the way.
“This is a leap forward in democratisation, agility and productivity,” said Hugues Jeancolas, VP of Products at Hexagon. “It’s not just about putting Marc in the cloud—it’s about changing how engineers interact with simulation.”
SimScale’s Richard Szöke-Schuller adds: “Now, every engineer has access to best-in-class nonlinear FEA on demand, accelerating innovation while removing traditional technology barriers.”
Available Now—For Everyone
Marc’s nonlinear analysis is now available within the SimScale platform to all users. Community accounts (free for non-commercial use) can even test the solver now, making it one of the most accessible paths to advanced nonlinear simulation on the market.
For professional users, it’s a compelling alternative to legacy on-prem software—no licensing drama, no IT bottlenecks, just pure simulation firepower at scale.
This isn’t just another cloud integration—it’s a signal of where simulation is headed. Engineering software is becoming smarter, more scalable, and radically more usable. By fusing SimScale’s cloud-native platform with Marc’s nonlinear strength, the two companies have delivered a compelling blueprint for how complex simulation should work in 2025: browser-based, AI-assisted, and ready to run at scale.
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