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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Implementation of a blade element UH-60 helicopter simulation on a parallel computer architecture in real-time

A high-performance platform for development of real-time helicopter flight simulations based on a simulation development and analysis platform combining a parallel simulation development and analysis environment with a scalable multiprocessor computer system is described. Simulation functional decomposition is covered, including the sequencing and data dependency of simulation modules and simulation functional mapping to multiple processors. The multiprocessor-based implementation of a blade-element simulation of the UH-60 helicopter is presented, and a prototype developed for a TC2000 computer is generalized in order to arrive at a portable multiprocessor software architecture. It is pointed out that the proposed approach coupled with a pilot's station creates a setting in which simulation engineers, computer scientists, and pilots can work together in the design and evaluation of advanced real-time helicopter simulations.

Moxon, Bruce C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Optimization on a Network-based Parallel Computer System for Supersonic Laminar Wing Design

A set of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) routines and flow transition prediction tools are integrated into a network based parallel numerical optimization routine. Through this optimization routine, the design of a 2-D airfoil and an infinitely swept wing will be studied in order to advance the design cycle capability of supersonic laminar flow wings. The goal of advancing supersonic laminar flow wing design is achieved by wisely choosing the design variables used in the optimization routine. The design variables are represented by the theory of Fourier series and potential theory. These theories, combined with the parallel CFD flow routines and flow transition prediction tools, provide a design space for a global optimal point to be searched. Finally, the parallel optimization routine enables gradient evaluations to be performed in a fast and parallel fashion.

Garcia, Joseph A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

CFD Research, Parallel Computation and Aerodynamic Optimization

During the last five years, CFD has matured substantially. Pure CFD research remains to be done, but much of the focus has shifted to integration of CFD into the design process. The work under these cooperative agreements reflects this trend. The recent work, and work which is planned, is designed to enhance the competitiveness of the US aerospace industry. CFD and optimization approaches are being developed and tested, so that the industry can better choose which methods to adopt in their design processes. The range of computer architectures has been dramatically broadened, as the assumption that only huge vector supercomputers could be useful has faded. Today, researchers and industry can trade off time, cost, and availability, choosing vector supercomputers, scalable parallel architectures, networked workstations, or heterogenous combinations of these to complete required computations efficiently.

Ryan, James S.↗
NASA NTRS1995

CFD research, parallel computation and aerodynamic optimization

Over five years of research in Computational Fluid Dynamics and its applications are covered in this report. Using CFD as an established tool, aerodynamic optimization on parallel architectures is explored. The objective of this work is to provide better tools to vehicle designers. Submarine design requires accurate force and moment calculations in flow with thick boundary layers and large separated vortices. Low noise production is critical, so flow into the propulsor region must be predicted accurately. The High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) has been the subject of recent work. This vehicle is to be a passenger vehicle with the capability of cutting overseas flight times by more than half. A successful design must surpass the performance of comparable planes. Fuel economy, other operational costs, environmental impact, and range must all be improved substantially. For all these reasons, improved design tools are required, and these tools must eventually integrate optimization, external aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, heat transfer and other disciplines.

Ryan, James S.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Finite Element Modeling on Scalable Parallel Computers

A coupled finite element-integral equation was developed to model fields scattered from inhomogenous, three-dimensional objects of arbitrary shape. This paper outlines how to implement the software on a scalable parallel processor.

modeling three-dimensional coupled finite element ↗
NASA NTRS1991

Parallel computation in a three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite-element analysis

CRAY 2 and CRAY Y-MP evaluation runs are undertaken for a three-dimensional, elastoplastic FEM code implementation of the 'autotasking' parallel-processing technique, which is used in all code components except the matrix-equation solver. For a typical example problem in the case of a four-processor CRAY 2, a speedup factor of 2.1 was found achievable in a dedicated environment, and 1.7 in a multiuser environment; for a three-processor CRAY Y-MP, speedup in a multiuser environment was about 2.4. Only minimal effort was required to implement autotasking in this implementation code.

Shivakumar, K. N.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Multilevel decomposition of complete vehicle configuration in a parallel computing environment

This research summarizes various approaches to multilevel decomposition to solve large structural problems. A linear decomposition scheme based on the Sobieski algorithm is selected as a vehicle for automated synthesis of a complete vehicle configuration in a parallel processing environment. The research is in a developmental state. Preliminary numerical results are presented for several example problems.

Bhatt, Vinay↗
NASA NTRS1990

Asynchronous numerical solution of PDEs on parallel computers

Asynchronous and partially-synchronous finite difference schemes are investigated for the one-dimensional steady-state and nonsteady-state heat equation, respectively. It is shown experimentally that the asynchronous scheme runs twice as fast as the parallel synchronous scheme. For relatively small values of time levels, however, the asynchronous scheme produces the least accurate results, while the partially-asynchronous scheme is almost as accurate as its synchronous counterpart.

Amitai, Dganit↗
NASA NTRS1988

Implementation and analysis of a Navier-Stokes algorithm on parallel computers

The results of the implementation of a Navier-Stokes algorithm on three parallel/vector computers are presented. The object of this research is to determine how well, or poorly, a single numerical algorithm would map onto three different architectures. The algorithm is a compact difference scheme for the solution of the incompressible, two-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations. The computers were chosen so as to encompass a variety of architectures. They are the following: the MPP, an SIMD machine with 16K bit serial processors; Flex/32, an MIMD machine with 20 processors; and Cray/2. The implementation of the algorithm is discussed in relation to these architectures and measures of the performance on each machine are given. The basic comparison is among SIMD instruction parallelism on the MPP, MIMD process parallelism on the Flex/32, and vectorization of a serial code on the Cray/2. Simple performance models are used to describe the performance. These models highlight the bottlenecks and limiting factors for this algorithm on these architectures. Finally, conclusions are presented.

Fatoohi, Raad A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Massively parallel computation of RCS with finite elements

One of the promising combinations of finite element approaches for scattering problems uses Whitney edge elements, spherical vector wave-absorbing boundary conditions, and bi-conjugate gradient solution for the frequency-domain near field. Each of these approaches may be criticized. Low-order elements require high mesh density, but also result in fast, reliable iterative convergence. Spherical wave-absorbing boundary conditions require additional space to be meshed beyond the most minimal near-space region, but result in fully sparse, symmetric matrices which keep storage and solution times low. Iterative solution is somewhat unpredictable and unfriendly to multiple right-hand sides, yet we find it to be uniformly fast on large problems to date, given the other two approaches. Implementation of these approaches on a distributed memory, message passing machine yields huge dividends, as full scalability to the largest machines appears assured and iterative solution times are well-behaved for large problems. We present times and solutions for computed RCS for a conducting cube and composite permeability/conducting sphere on the Intel ipsc860 with up to 16 processors solving over 200,000 unknowns. We estimate problems of approximately 10 million unknowns, encompassing 1000 cubic wavelengths, may be attempted on a currently available 512 processor machine, but would be exceedingly tedious to prepare. The most severe bottlenecks are due to the slow rate of mesh generation on non-parallel machines and the large transfer time from such a machine to the parallel processor. One solution, in progress, is to create and then distribute a coarse mesh among the processors, followed by systematic refinement within each processor. Elimination of redundant node definitions at the mesh-partition surfaces, snap-to-surface post processing of the resulting mesh for good modelling of curved surfaces, and load-balancing redistribution of new elements after the refinement are auxiliary steps expected to result in a robust low i/o system for very large finite element problems.

Parker, Jay↗
NASA NTRS1977

Parallel computation of unsteady, three-dimensional, chemically reacting, nonequilibrium flow using a time-split finite-volume method on the Illiac IV

A description is presented of the split finite-volume method which is a viable numerical procedure for performing with the aid of a modern special purpose vector computer numerical simulation studies of complicated flow fields, including chemical reactions, about geometrically complex bodies. Such numerical studies are needed for the development of atmospheric entry vehicles such as the space shuttle. The equations which are approximated are quite general and can be used in studies of combustion, pollution, and other chemically reacting flow phenomena, where convective transport effects dominate the influence of radiative, viscous, and other transport mechanisms. The shock perturbed flow about a shuttle orbiter flying at a large angle of attack during atmospheric entry is illustrated. The method uses a time splitting of the convection differencing operator to achieve efficient data management.

Reinhardt, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Dynamic remapping of parallel computations with varying resource demands

A large class of computational problems is characterized by frequent synchronization, and computational requirements which change as a function of time. When such a problem must be solved on a message passing multiprocessor machine, the combination of these characteristics lead to system performance which decreases in time. Performance can be improved with periodic redistribution of computational load; however, redistribution can exact a sometimes large delay cost. We study the issue of deciding when to invoke a global load remapping mechanism. Such a decision policy must effectively weigh the costs of remapping against the performance benefits. We treat this problem by constructing two analytic models which exhibit stochastically decreasing performance. One model is quite tractable; we are able to describe the optimal remapping algorithm, and the optimal decision policy governing when to invoke that algorithm. However, computational complexity prohibits the use of the optimal remapping decision policy. We then study the performance of a general remapping policy on both analytic models. This policy attempts to minimize a statistic W(n) which measures the system degradation (including the cost of remapping) per computation step over a period of n steps. We show that as a function of time, the expected value of W(n) has at most one minimum, and that when this minimum exists it defines the optimal fixed-interval remapping policy. Our decision policy appeals to this result by remapping when it estimates that W(n) is minimized. Our performance data suggests that this policy effectively finds the natural frequency of remapping. We also use the analytic models to express the relationship between performance and remapping cost, number of processors, and the computation's stochastic activity.

Nicol, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Time-partitioning simulation models for calculation on parallel computers

A technique allowing time-staggered solution of partial differential equations is presented in this report. Using this technique, called time-partitioning, simulation execution speedup is proportional to the number of processors used because all processors operate simultaneously, with each updating of the solution grid at a different time point. The technique is limited by neither the number of processors available nor by the dimension of the solution grid. Time-partitioning was used to obtain the flow pattern through a cascade of airfoils, modeled by the Euler partial differential equations. An execution speedup factor of 1.77 was achieved using a two processor Cray X-MP/24 computer.

Milner, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Implementation of an ADI method on parallel computers

The implementation of an ADI method for solving the diffusion equation on three parallel/vector computers is discussed. The computers were chosen so as to encompass a variety of architectures. They are: the MPP, an SIMD machine with 16K bit serial processors; FLEX/32, an MIMD machine with 20 processors; and CRAY/2, an MIMD machine with four vector processors. The Gaussian elimination algorithm is used to solve a set of tridiagonal systems on the FLEX/32 and CRAY/2 while the cyclic elimination algorithm is used to solve these systems on the MPP. The implementation of the method is discussed in relation to these architectures and measures of the performance on each machine are given. Simple performance models are used to describe the performance. These models highlight the bottlenecks and limiting factors for this algorithm on these architectures. Finally, conclusions are presented.

Fatoohi, Raad A.↗