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NASA NTRS1991

Hypercube technology

The JPL designed MARKIII hypercube supercomputer has been in application service since June 1988 and has had successful application to a broad problem set including electromagnetic scattering, discrete event simulation, plasma transport, matrix algorithms, neural network simulation, image processing, and graphics. Currently, problems that are not homogeneous are being attempted, and, through this involvement with real world applications, the software is evolving to handle the heterogeneous class problems efficiently.

Parker, Jay W.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Hyperswitch communication network

The Hyperswitch Communication Network (HCN) is a large scale parallel computer prototype being developed at JPL. Commercial versions of the HCN computer are planned. The HCN computer being designed is a message passing multiple instruction multiple data (MIMD) computer, and offers many advantages in price-performance ratio, reliability and availability, and manufacturing over traditional uniprocessors and bus based multiprocessors. The design of the HCN operating system is a uniquely flexible environment that combines both parallel processing and distributed processing. This programming paradigm can achieve a balance among the following competing factors: performance in processing and communications, user friendliness, and fault tolerance. The prototype is being designed to accommodate a maximum of 64 state of the art microprocessors. The HCN is classified as a distributed supercomputer. The HCN system is described, and the performance/cost analysis and other competing factors within the system design are reviewed.

Peterson, J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A system-approach to the elastohydrodynamic lubrication point-contact problem

The classical EHL (elastohydrodynamic lubrication) point contact problem is solved using a new system-approach, similar to that introduced by Houpert and Hamrock for the line-contact problem. Introducing a body-fitted coordinate system, the troublesome free-boundary is transformed to a fixed domain. The Newton-Raphson method can then be used to determine the pressure distribution and the cavitation boundary subject to the Reynolds boundary condition. This method provides an efficient and rigorous way of solving the EHL point contact problem with the aid of a supercomputer and a promising method to deal with the transient EHL point contact problem. A typical pressure distribution and film thickness profile are presented and the minimum film thicknesses are compared with the solution of Hamrock and Dowson. The details of the cavitation boundaries for various operating parameters are discussed.

Lim, Sang Gyu↗

NASA NTRS1991

Integrated Vertical Bloch Line (VBL) memory

Vertical Bloch Line (VBL) Memory is a recently conceived, integrated, solid state, block access, VLSI memory which offers the potential of 1 Gbit/sq cm areal storage density, data rates of hundreds of megabits/sec, and submillisecond average access time simultaneously at relatively low mass, volume, and power values when compared to alternative technologies. VBLs are micromagnetic structures within magnetic domain walls which can be manipulated using magnetic fields from integrated conductors. The presence or absence of BVL pairs are used to store binary information. At present, efforts are being directed at developing a single chip memory using 25 Mbit/sq cm technology in magnetic garnet material which integrates, at a single operating point, the writing, storage, reading, and amplification functions needed in a memory. The current design architecture, functional elements, and supercomputer simulation results are described which are used to assist the design process.

Katti, R. R.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Three-dimensional Euler time accurate simulations of fan rotor-stator interactions

A numerical method useful to describe unsteady 3-D flow fields within turbomachinery stages is presented. The method solves the compressible, time dependent, Euler conservation equations with a finite volume, flux splitting, total variation diminishing, approximately factored, implicit scheme. Multiblock composite gridding is used to partition the flow field into a specified arrangement of blocks with static and dynamic interfaces. The code is optimized to take full advantage of the processing power and speed of the Cray Y/MP supercomputer. The method is applied to the computation of the flow field within a single stage, axial flow fan, thus reproducing the unsteady 3-D rotor-stator interaction.

Boretti, A. A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Average-passage flow model development

A 3-D model was developed for simulating multistage turbomachinery flows using supercomputers. This average passage flow model described the time averaged flow field within a typical passage of a bladed wheel within a multistage configuration. To date, a number of inviscid simulations were executed to assess the resolution capabilities of the model. Recently, the viscous terms associated with the average passage model were incorporated into the inviscid computer code along with an algebraic turbulence model. A simulation of a stage-and-one-half, low speed turbine was executed. The results of this simulation, including a comparison with experimental data, is discussed.

Adamczyk, John J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Manifest: A computer program for 2-D flow modeling in Stirling machines

A computer program named Manifest is discussed. Manifest is a program one might want to use to model the fluid dynamics in the manifolds commonly found between the heat exchangers and regenerators of Stirling machines; but not just in the manifolds - in the regenerators as well. And in all sorts of other places too, such as: in heaters or coolers, or perhaps even in cylinder spaces. There are probably nonStirling uses for Manifest also. In broad strokes, Manifest will: (1) model oscillating internal compressible laminar fluid flow in a wide range of two-dimensional regions, either filled with porous materials or empty; (2) present a graphics-based user-friendly interface, allowing easy selection and modification of region shape and boundary condition specification; (3) run on a personal computer, or optionally (in the case of its number-crunching module) on a supercomputer; and (4) allow interactive examination of the solution output so the user can view vector plots of flow velocity, contour plots of pressure and temperature at various locations and tabulate energy-related integrals of interest.

Gedeon, David↗

NASA NTRS1991

A survey of parallel programming tools

This survey examines 39 parallel programming tools. Focus is placed on those tool capabilites needed for parallel scientific programming rather than for general computer science. The tools are classified with current and future needs of Numerical Aerodynamic Simulator (NAS) in mind: existing and anticipated NAS supercomputers and workstations; operating systems; programming languages; and applications. They are divided into four categories: suggested acquisitions, tools already brought in; tools worth tracking; and tools eliminated from further consideration at this time.

Cheng, Doreen Y.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Numerical simulation of particle-wave interaction in boundary layers

The effects of wall injection and particle motion on the spatial stability of two-dimensional plane channel flow are investigated. For this purpose, an accurate Navier-Stokes solver to simulate the space-time evolution of disturbances in three-dimensional flows has been developed. The code is operational on the NASA Langley CRAY2 and can be ported to any other supercomputer. The code has been tested extensively in tracking the spatial evolution of two-dimensional disturbances in plane channel flow and provided excellent agreement with the linear theory including at the inflow/outflow boundaries. Preliminary calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of stationary and moving sources of vortical disturbances simulating a particle traveling in the flow field. Results suggest that even at very low amplitudes, vortical disturbances act as amplifiers on the Tollmien-Schlichting waves promoting rapid instability. It is also found that slow moving particles are more dangerous than both stationary and fast moving particles for the same disturbance levels.

Biringen, S.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Saving all the bits

The scientific tradition of saving all the data from experiments for independent validation and for further investigation is under profound challenge by modern satellite data collectors and by supercomputers. The volume of data is beyond the capacity to store, transmit, and comprehend the data. A promising line of study is discovery machines that study the data at the collection site and transmit statistical summaries of patterns observed. Examples of discovery machines are the Autoclass system and the genetic memory system of NASA-Ames, and the proposal for knowbots by Kahn and Cerf.

Denning, Peter J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Mutual exclusion

Almost all computers today operate as part of a network, where they assist people in coordinating actions. Sometimes what appears to be a single computer is actually a network of cooperating computers; e.g., some supercomputers consist of many processors operating in parallel and exchanging synchronization signals. One of the most fundamental requirements in all these systems is that certain operations be indivisible: the steps of one must not be interleaved with the steps of another. Two approaches were designed to implement this requirement, one based on central locks and the other on distributed order tickets. Practicing scientists and engineers need to come to be familiar with these methods.

Denning, Peter J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Gigaflop performance on a CRAY-2: Multitasking a computational fluid dynamics application

The methodology is described for converting a large, long-running applications code that executed on a single processor of a CRAY-2 supercomputer to a version that executed efficiently on multiple processors. Although the conversion of every application is different, a discussion of the types of modification used to achieve gigaflop performance is included to assist others in the parallelization of applications for CRAY computers, especially those that were developed for other computers. An existing application, from the discipline of computational fluid dynamics, that had utilized over 2000 hrs of CPU time on CRAY-2 during the previous year was chosen as a test case to study the effectiveness of multitasking on a CRAY-2. The nature of dominant calculations within the application indicated that a sustained computational rate of 1 billion floating-point operations per second, or 1 gigaflop, might be achieved. The code was first analyzed and modified for optimal performance on a single processor in a batch environment. After optimal performance on a single CPU was achieved, the code was modified to use multiple processors in a dedicated environment. The results of these two efforts were merged into a single code that had a sustained computational rate of over 1 gigaflop on a CRAY-2. Timings and analysis of performance are given for both single- and multiple-processor runs.

Tennille, Geoffrey M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Flow computations for the Space Shuttle in ascent mode using thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations

The application of CFD techniques to the Space Shuttle ascent environment was aggressively undertaken in the wake of the Challenger accident in order to secure a major new source of aerodynamic information for both the nominal and mission-abort conditions, using Cray 2 and Cray YMP supercomputers. Due to the integrated vehicle's complexity, the 'chimera' composite grid approach, in which an overset body-conforming grid is used to represent each geometric component as well as special flow regions, was employed for the discretization process. Calculation results exhibit general agreement in both flow structure and surface pressure with the available wind tunnel and flight-test results.

Martin, F. W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1990

High performance remote sensing data analysis using parallel computation

This paper examines the JPL/Caltech parallel processing system designed for rapid processing and transfer of large quantities of data from remote sensing instruments flown on NASA missions. Two remote sensing analysis applications that use this processing system are described: (1) an analysis system for retrieval of atmospheric parameters (such as species abundance, atmospheric temperature, and water vapor profiles) from data obtained by a Fourier transform IR spectrometer and (2) a prototype airborne SAR processing system. It is shown that a parallel processing system such as the JPL/Caltech system can offer supercomputer computational capability and high-volume data throughput and still be cost-effective.

Patterson, Jean E.↗

NASA NTRS1990

DSMC calculations for the delta wing

Results are reported from three-dimensional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) computations, using a variable-hard-sphere molecular model, of hypersonic flow on a delta wing. The body-fitted grid is made up of deformed hexahedral cells divided into six tetrahedral subcells with well defined triangular faces; the simulation is carried out for 9000 time steps using 150,000 molecules. The uniform freestream conditions include M = 20.2, T = 13.32 K, rho = 0.00001729 kg/cu m, and T(wall) = 620 K, corresponding to lambda = 0.00153 m and Re = 14,000. The results are presented in graphs and briefly discussed. It is found that, as the flow expands supersonically around the leading edge, an attached leeside flow develops around the wing, and the near-surface density distribution has a maximum downstream from the stagnation point. Coefficients calculated include C(H) = 0.067, C(DP) = 0.178, C(DF) = 0.110, C(L) = 0.714, and C(D) = 1.089. The calculations required 56 h of CPU time on the NASA Langley Voyager CRAY-2 supercomputer.

Celenligil, M. Cevdet↗

NASA NTRS1991

Dynamics of planetary rings

The modeling of the dynamics of particle collisions within planetary rings is discussed. Particles in the rings collide with one another because they have small random motions in addition to their orbital velocity. The orbital speed is roughly 10 km/s, while the random motions have an average speed of about a tenth of a millimeter per second. As a result, the particle collisions are very gentle. Numerical analysis and simulation of the ring dynamics, performed with the aid of a supercomputer, is outlined.

Araki, Suguru↗

NASA NTRS1991

Computational simulation of the creep-rupture process in filamentary composite materials

A computational simulation of the internal damage accumulation which causes the creep-rupture phenomenon in filamentary composite materials is developed. The creep-rupture process involves complex interactions between several damage mechanisms. A statistically-based computational simulation using a time-differencing approach is employed to model these progressive interactions. The finite element method is used to calculate the internal stresses. The fibers are modeled as a series of bar elements which are connected transversely by matrix elements. Flaws are distributed randomly throughout the elements in the model. Load is applied, and the properties of the individual elements are updated at the end of each time step as a function of the stress history. The simulation is continued until failure occurs. Several cases, with different initial flaw dispersions, are run to establish a statistical distribution of the time-to-failure. The calculations are performed on a supercomputer. The simulation results compare favorably with the results of creep-rupture experiments conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Slattery, Kerry T.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A parallel algorithm for generation and assembly of finite element stiffness and mass matrices

A new algorithm is proposed for parallel generation and assembly of the finite element stiffness and mass matrices. The proposed assembly algorithm is based on a node-by-node approach rather than the more conventional element-by-element approach. The new algorithm's generality and computation speed-up when using multiple processors are demonstrated for several practical applications on multi-processor Cray Y-MP and Cray 2 supercomputers.

Storaasli, O. O.↗