Technical Overview

HOOPS Solve is a high-performance CAE software development toolkit for building and solving finite element method (FEM) models. It consists of a suite of libraries that support every step of FEM solver development – from defining element-level physics and material behavior to assembling global equations and performing high-performance linear algebra computations. Aimed at developers integrating an FEA solver into their applications, HOOPS Solve provides flexible modules that can be used independently or together as a complete solution.

Modular Architecture

The HOOPS Solve SDK is organized into several modules, each targeting a specific layer of the FEA solver workflow:

  • Vfe (Finite Element Modeling) A library of finite element formulations and material models. It includes support for numerous element types (solid, shell, beam, truss, interface elements, etc.) and comes with a built-in library of material models. Developers can use Vfe to compute element stiffness matrices, mass matrices, and load vectors, capturing element-level contributions for the global system. This module enables modeling of local physics – from linear elastic behavior to complex nonlinear material responses – using proven element technology and constitutive models.
  • Vfs (System Assembly & Solvers) A linear algebra and system assembly library for finite elements. Vfs handles the management of degrees of freedom, assembly of element contributions into global matrices, application of boundary conditions, and solution of the resulting equation systems. It provides high- performance solvers for linear systems and eigenvalue problems, including both direct and iterative solution methods. This module is optimized for parallel (shared-memory) execution and supports large-scale models with features like out-of-core factorization and an efficient AMLS eigensolver for vibration analysis. Notably, developers can integrate Vfs into any FE code to leverage its robust solver capabilities independently of the rest of the toolkit.
  • Vfx (Application-Level Solver) A set of high-level modules built on Vfe and Vfs, most notably the ProSolve solver. The ProSolve module is a full-featured design- analysis finite element solver that encapsulates complete FEA workflows. It supports various analysis types (e.g. linear static, steady-state thermal, buckling, modal/vibration, frequency response) and manages solution sequences, load cases, and result output automatically. By integrating ProSolve, developers can embed a ready-to-use FEA application into their software, obtaining advanced solver functionality without implementing it from scratch. ProSolve serves as an off-the-shelf FEA engine, while still allowing customization and extension through the lower-level Vfe and Vfs APIs.

Developer Integration

HOOPS Solve is designed for easy integration into custom applications. The SDK offers C, C++, Fortran, and C# language bindings for flexibility, and its APIs follow consistent patterns to shorten the learning curve. The toolkit’s components can be adopted incrementally – for example, one might use only the Vfs solvers alongside an existing FEM code, or use Vfe and Vfs together to build a tailored solver. For a turnkey solution, the ProSolve module can be plugged in to provide a complete FEA capability within an application.

With its emphasis on performance (leveraging parallel algorithms and continuous benchmarking) and comprehensive functionality, HOOPS Solve enables developers to deliver robust, high-performance finite element analysis features in their products.

HOOPS Solve is free to evaluate for 60 days on Windows x64 and Linux 64-bit platforms.