Engineering topics

Michal, Todd

Publications and source records attributed to Michal, Todd.

9 records

NASA NTRS2019

Geometry Modeling for Unstructured Mesh Adaptation

The quantification and control of discretization error is critical to obtaining reliable simulation results. Adaptive mesh techniques have the potential to automate discretization error control, but have made limited impact on production analysis workflow. Recent progress has matured a number of independent implementations of flow solvers, error estimation methods, and anisotropic mesh adaptation mechanics. However, the poor integration of initial mesh generation and adaptive mesh mechanics to typical sources of geometry has hindered adoption of adaptive mesh techniques, where these geometries are often created in Mechanical Computer- Aided Design (MCAD) systems. The difficulty of this coupling is compounded by two factors: the inherent complexity of the model (e.g., large range of scales, bodies in proximity, details not required for analysis) and unintended geometry construction artifacts (e.g., translation, uneven parameterization, degeneracy, self-intersection, sliver faces, gaps, large tolerances be- tween topological elements, local high curvature to enforce continuity). Manual preparation of geometry is commonly employed to enable fixed-grid and adaptive-grid workflows by reducing the severity and negative impacts of these construction artifacts, but manual process interaction inhibits workflow automation. Techniques to permit the use of complex geometry models and reduce the impact of geometry construction artifacts on unstructured grid workflows are models from the AIAA Sonic Boom and High Lift Prediction are shown to demonstrate the utility of the current approach.

Park, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Verification of Unstructured Grid Adaptation Components

Adaptive unstructured grid techniques have made limited impact on production analysis workflows where the control of discretization error is critical to obtaining reliable simulation results. Recent progress has matured a number of independent implementations of flow solvers, error estimation methods, and anisotropic grid adaptation mechanics. Known differences and previously unknown differences in grid adaptation components and their integrated processes are identified here for study. Unstructured grid adaptation tools are verified using analytic functions and the Code Comparison Principle. Three analytic functions with different smoothness properties are adapted to show the impact of smoothness on implementation differences. A scalar advection-diffusion problem with an analytic solution that models a boundary layer is adapted to test individual grid adaptation components. Laminar flow over a delta wing and turbulent flow over an ONERA M6 wing are verified with multiple, independent grid adaptation procedures to show consistent convergence to fine-grid forces and a moment. The scalar problems illustrate known differences in a grid adaptation component implementation and a previously unknown interaction between components. The wing adaptation cases in the current study document a clear improvement to existing grid adaptation procedures. The stage is set for the infusion of verified grid adaptation into production fluid flow simulations.

Park, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Parallel Anisotropic Unstructured Grid Adaptation

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become critical to the design and analysis of aerospace vehicles. Parallel grid adaptation that resolves multiple scales with anisotropy is identified as one of the challenges in the CFD Vision 2030 Study to increase the capacity and capability of CFD simulation. The Study also cautions that computer architectures are undergoing a radical change and dramatic increases in algorithm concurrency will be required to exploit full performance. This paper reviews four different methods to parallel anisotropic grid generation. They cover both ends of the spectrum: (i) using existing state-of-the-art software optimized for a single core and modifying it for parallel platforms and (ii) designing and implementing scalable software with incomplete, but rapidly maturating functionality. A brief overview for each grid adaptation system is presented in the context of a telescopic approach for multilevel concurrency. These methods employ different approaches to enable parallel execution, which provides a unique opportunity to illustrate the relative behavior of each approach. Qualitative and quantitative metric evaluations are used to draw lessons for future developments in this critical area for parallel CFD simulation.

Tsolakis, Christos↗

NASA NTRS2019

Verification of Unstructured Grid Adaptation Components

Adaptive unstructured grid techniques have made limited impact on production analysis workflows where the control of discretization error is critical to obtaining reliable simulation results. Recent progress has matured a number of independent implementations of flow solvers, error estimation methods, and anisotropic grid adaptation mechanics. Known differences and previously unknown differences in grid adaptation components and their integrated processes are identified here for study. Unstructured grid adaptation tools are verified using analytic functions and the Code Comparison Principle. Three analytic functions with different smoothness properties are adapted to show the impact of smoothness on implementation differences. A scalar advection-diffusion problem with an analytic solution that models a boundary layer is adapted to test individual grid adaptation components. The scalar problems illustrate known differences in a grid adaptation component implementation and a previously unknown interaction between components. Laminar flow over a delta wing is verified with multiple, independent grid adaptation procedures to show consistent convergence to fine-grid forces and pitching moment.

Park, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Unstructured Grid Adaptation and Solver Technology for Turbulent Flows

Unstructured grid adaptation is a tool to control Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) discretization error. However, adaptive grid techniques have made limited impact on production analysis workflows where the control of discretization error is critical to obtaining reliable simulation results. Issues that prevent the use of adaptive grid methods are identified by applying unstructured grid adaptation methods to a series of benchmark cases. Once identified, these challenges to existing adaptive workflows can be addressed. Unstructured grid adaptation is evaluated for test cases described on the Turbulence Modeling Resource (TMR) web site, which documents uniform grid refinement of multiple schemes. The cases are turbulent flow over a Hemisphere Cylinder and an ONERA M6Wing. Adaptive grid force and moment trajectories are shown for three integrated grid adaptation processes with Mach interpolation control and output error based metrics. The integrated grid adaptation process with a finite element (FE) discretization produced results consistent with uniform grid refinement of fixed grids. The integrated grid adaptation processes with finite volume schemes were slower to converge to the reference solution than the FE method. Metric conformity is documented on grid/metric snapshots for five grid adaptation mechanics implementations. These tools produce anisotropic boundary conforming grids requested by the adaptation process.

Park, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Summary of the 1st AIAA Geometry and Mesh Generation Workshop (GMGW-1) and Future Plans

The 1st AIAA Geometry and Mesh Generation Workshop (GMGW-1) was held in conjunction with the AIAA Aviation Forum and Exposition 2017 and in collaboration with the 3rd AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) High Lift Prediction Workshop (HiLiftPW-3). As the first AIAA workshop on these topics, GMGW-1's broad objectives were to assess the current state-of-the art in geometry preprocessing and mesh generation technology as well as software as applied to aircraft and spacecraft systems. The workshop was intended to identify and develop understanding of areas of needed improvement in terms of performance, accuracy, and applicability. It was also to provide a foundation for documenting best practices for geometry preprocessing and mesh generation. The genesis of GMGW-1 is found in the indictments levied against geometry preprocessing and mesh generation - not undeservedly - by the NASA CFD Vision 2030 Study. In order to create a reference against which future progress in geometry preprocessing and mesh generation can be measured, the organizers of GMGW-1, with the assistance of the organizers of HiLiftPW- 3, focused GMGW-1 on generation of meshes of the NASA High Lift Common Research Model (HL-CRM). Some of the generated meshes were provided for use by the participants in HiLiftPW-3. All meshes and the processes by which they were generated were analyzed by GMGW-1 as a first assessment of state of the art practices. The results of GMGW-1 added quantitative detail to known problem areas including geometry modeling, data interoperability, and amount of human intervention. They do provide a clear path toward a vision of geometry preprocessing and mesh generation in the year 2030. The next milepost along this path will be a second workshop.

Chawner, John R.↗

NASA NTRS2017

First benchmark of the Unstructured Grid Adaptation Working Group

Unstructured grid adaptation is a technology that holds the potential to improve the automation and accuracy of computational fluid dynamics and other computational disciplines. Difficulty producing the highly anisotropic elements necessary for simulation on complex curved geometries that satisfies a resolution request has limited this technology's widespread adoption. The Unstructured Grid Adaptation Working Group is an open gathering of researchers working on adapting simplicial meshes to conform to a metric field. Current members span a wide range of institutions including academia, industry, and national laboratories. The purpose of this group is to create a common basis for understanding and improving mesh adaptation. We present our first major contribution: a common set of benchmark cases, including input meshes and analytic metric specifications, that are publicly available to be used for evaluating any mesh adaptation code. We also present the results of several existing codes on these benchmark cases, to illustrate their utility in identifying key challenges common to all codes and important differences between available codes. Future directions are defined to expand this benchmark to mature the technology necessary to impact practical simulation workflows.

Ibanez, Daniel↗

NASA NTRS2016

Unstructured Grid Adaptation: Status, Potential Impacts, and Recommended Investments Toward CFD Vision 2030

Unstructured grid adaptation is a powerful tool to control discretization error for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). It has enabled key increases in the accuracy, automation, and capacity of some fluid simulation applications. Slotnick et al. provides a number of case studies in the CFD Vision 2030 Study: A Path to Revolutionary Computational Aerosciences to illustrate the current state of CFD capability and capacity. The authors forecast the potential impact of emerging High Performance Computing (HPC) environments forecast in the year 2030 and identify that mesh generation and adaptivity continue to be significant bottlenecks in the CFD work flow. These bottlenecks may persist because very little government investment has been targeted in these areas. To motivate investment, the impacts of improved grid adaptation technologies are identified. The CFD Vision 2030 Study roadmap and anticipated capabilities in complementary disciplines are quoted to provide context for the progress made in grid adaptation in the past fifteen years, current status, and a forecast for the next fifteen years with recommended investments. These investments are specific to mesh adaptation and impact other aspects of the CFD process. Finally, a strategy is identified to diffuse grid adaptation technology into production CFD work flows.

Park, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Comparing Anisotropic Output-Based Grid Adaptation Methods by Decomposition

Anisotropic grid adaptation is examined by decomposing the steps of flow solution, ad- joint solution, error estimation, metric construction, and simplex grid adaptation. Multiple implementations of each of these steps are evaluated by comparison to each other and expected analytic results when available. For example, grids are adapted to analytic metric fields and grid measures are computed to illustrate the properties of multiple independent implementations of grid adaptation mechanics. Different implementations of each step in the adaptation process can be evaluated in a system where the other components of the adaptive cycle are fixed. Detailed examination of these properties allows comparison of different methods to identify the current state of the art and where further development should be targeted.

Park, Michael A.↗