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At least 613 records · Page 34

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NASA NTRS1997

Efficient Multidisciplinary Analysis Procedure Using Multi-Level Parallelization Approach

Multidisciplinary applications are suitable for parallel computing environment by adopting the domain decomposition method. Immediately, a multidisciplinary application can be parallelized by solving each discipline separately. In order to perform coupled multidisciplinary analysis, coupling of each discipline can be accomplished by exchanging boundary data at the interfaces. This is regarded as discipline-level parallelization. Next level could be a "coarse-grain" parallelization of each discipline, which mainly depends on the physical geometry and nature of each discipline. For example, it is almost impossible for structured-grid based computational fluid dynamics codes to do flow analysis of an aircraft by using a single grid because of the complexity of its configuration. Thus, multi-block grid is commonly used to describe the details of complex geometry. Similarly, in structural analysis, the structure is frequently subdivided into substructures. Thus, the computation of each subdomain can be easily parallelized since each subdomain is solved separately independent of other domains. The parallelization is accomplished by solving each subdomain separately on a separate processor and exchanging the boundary conditions at domain interfaces periodically. However, the physical decomposition of the domain introduces explicit boundary conditions at the domain interfaces. This is not desirable for critical areas such as those containing shock waves or flow separations. Thus, a "fine-grain" parallelization is introduced to overcome this problem. The "fine-grain" parallelization is one that solves exactly the same system of equations of a subdomain by using more than one processors without introducing any explicit boundary conditions. An efficient multidisciplinary analysis procedure can be accomplished by successfully combining the above multi-level parallelism. A multidisciplinary analysis code, ENSAERO developed at NASA Ames Research Center is used in this study to implement the proposed approach. The communication data structure required for the proposed approach will be studied in detail. This work will demonstrate the feasibility of using multi-level parallelization approach in multidisciplinary analysis applications.

Byun, Chansup↗

NASA NTRS2009

Vortical Flow Prediction using an Adaptive Unstructured Grid Method

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method has been employed to compute vortical flows around slender wing/body configurations. The emphasis of the paper is on the effectiveness of an adaptive grid procedure in "capturing" concentrated vortices generated at sharp edges or flow separation lines of lifting surfaces flying at high angles of attack. The method is based on a tetrahedral unstructured grid technology developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. Two steady-state, subsonic, inviscid and Navier-Stokes flow test cases are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method for solving vortical flow problems. The first test case concerns vortex flow over a simple 65 delta wing with different values of leading-edge radius. Although the geometry is quite simple, it poses a challenging problem for computing vortices originating from blunt leading edges. The second case is that of a more complex fighter configuration. The superiority of the adapted solutions in capturing the vortex flow structure over the conventional unadapted results is demonstrated by comparisons with the wind-tunnel experimental data. The study shows that numerical prediction of vortical flows is highly sensitive to the local grid resolution and that the implementation of grid adaptation is essential when applying CFD methods to such complicated flow problems.

Pirzadeh, Shahyar Z.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Vortical Flow Prediction Using an Adaptive Unstructured Grid Method

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method has been employed to compute vortical flows around slender wing/body configurations. The emphasis of the paper is on the effectiveness of an adaptive grid procedure in "capturing" concentrated vortices generated at sharp edges or flow separation lines of lifting surfaces flying at high angles of attack. The method is based on a tetrahedral unstructured grid technology developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. Two steady-state, subsonic, inviscid and Navier-Stokes flow test cases are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method for solving practical vortical flow problems. The first test case concerns vortex flow over a simple 65 delta wing with different values of leading-edge radius. Although the geometry is quite simple, it poses a challenging problem for computing vortices originating from blunt leading edges. The second case is that of a more complex fighter configuration. The superiority of the adapted solutions in capturing the vortex flow structure over the conventional unadapted results is demonstrated by comparisons with the wind-tunnel experimental data. The study shows that numerical prediction of vortical flows is highly sensitive to the local grid resolution and that the implementation of grid adaptation is essential when applying CFD methods to such complicated flow problems.

Pirzadeh, Shahyar Z.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Portable Computer

SPOC, a navigation monitoring computer used by NASA in a 1983 mission, was a modification of a commercial computer called GRiD Compass, produced by GRiD Systems Corporation. SPOC was chosen because of its small size, large storage capacity, and high processing speed. The principal modification required was a fan to cool the computer. SPOC automatically computes position, orbital paths, communication locations, etc. Some of the modifications were adapted for commercial applications. The computer is presently used in offices for conferences, for on-site development, and by the army as part of a field communications systems.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2013

Influence of Computational Drop Representation in LES of a Droplet-Laden Mixing Layer

Multiphase turbulent flows are encountered in many practical applications including turbine engines or natural phenomena involving particle dispersion. Numerical computations of multiphase turbulent flows are important because they provide a cheaper alternative to performing experiments during an engine design process or because they can provide predictions of pollutant dispersion, etc. Two-phase flows contain millions and sometimes billions of particles. For flows with volumetrically dilute particle loading, the most accurate method of numerically simulating the flow is based on direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the governing equations in which all scales of the flow including the small scales that are responsible for the overwhelming amount of dissipation are resolved. DNS, however, requires high computational cost and cannot be used in engineering design applications where iterations among several design conditions are necessary. Because of high computational cost, numerical simulations of such flows cannot track all these drops. The objective of this work is to quantify the influence of the number of computational drops and grid spacing on the accuracy of predicted flow statistics, and to possibly identify the minimum number, or, if not possible, the optimal number of computational drops that provide minimal error in flow prediction. For this purpose, several Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of a mixing layer with evaporating drops have been performed by using coarse, medium, and fine grid spacings and computational drops, rather than physical drops. To define computational drops, an integer NR is introduced that represents the ratio of the number of existing physical drops to the desired number of computational drops; for example, if NR=8, this means that a computational drop represents 8 physical drops in the flow field. The desired number of computational drops is determined by the available computational resources; the larger NR is, the less computationally intensive is the simulation. A set of first order and second order flow statistics, and of drop statistics are extracted from LES predictions and are compared to results obtained by filtering a DNS database. First order statistics such as Favre averaged stream-wise velocity, Favre averaged vapor mass fraction, and the drop stream-wise velocity, are predicted accurately independent of the number of computational drops and grid spacing. Second order flow statistics depend both on the number of computational drops and on grid spacing. The scalar variance and turbulent vapor flux are predicted accurately by the fine mesh LES only when NR is less than 32, and by the coarse mesh LES reasonably accurately for all NR values. This is attributed to the fact that when the grid spacing is coarsened, the number of drops in a computational cell must not be significantly lower than that in the DNS.

Bellan, Josette↗

NASA NTRS1999

Technical Report Series on Global Modeling and Data Assimilation: Filtering Techniques on a Stretched Grid General Circulation Model - Volume 16

This report documents the techniques used to filter quantities on a stretched grid general circulation model. Standard high-latitude filtering techniques (e.g., using an FFT (Fast Fourier Transformations) to decompose and filter unstable harmonics at selected latitudes) applied on a stretched grid are shown to produce significant distortions of the prognostic state when used to control instabilities near the pole. A new filtering technique is developed which accurately accounts for the non-uniform grid by computing the eigenvectors and eigenfrequencies associated with the stretching. A filter function, constructed to selectively damp those modes whose associated eigenfrequencies exceed some critical value, is used to construct a set of grid-spaced weights which are shown to effectively filter without distortion. Both offline and GCM (General Circulation Model) experiments are shown using the new filtering technique. Finally, a brief examination is also made on the impact of applying the Shapiro filter on the stretched grid.

Takacs, Lawrence L.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Noisy-Intermediate-Scale Quantum Electromagnetic Transients Program

Quantum-empowered electromagnetic transients program (QEMTP) is a promising paradigm for tackling EMTP's computational burdens. Nevertheless, no existing studies truly achieve a practical and scalable QEMTP operable on today's noisy-intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computers. The strong reliance on noise-free and fault-tolerant quantum devices--which appears to be decades away--hinder practical applications of current QEMTP methods. Here, we devise a NISQ-QEMTP methodology which for the first time transitions the QEMTP operations from ideal, noise-free quantum simulators to real, noisy quantum computers. The main contributions lie in: (1) a shallow-depth QEMTP quantum circuit for mitigating noises on NISQ quantum devices; (2) practical QEMTP linear solvers incorporating executable quantum state preparation and measurements for nodal voltage computations; (3) a noise-resilient QEMTP algorithm leveraging quantum resources logarithmically scaled with power system dimension; (4) a quantum shifted frequency analysis (QSFA) for accelerating QEMTP by exploiting dynamic phasor simulations with larger time steps; (5) a systematical analysis on QEMTPs performance under various noisy quantum environments. Extensive experiments systematically verify the accuracy, efficacy, universality and noise-resilience of QEMTP on both noise-free simulators and IBM real quantum computers.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS1986

Multiple Grids in Finite-Difference Flow Analysis

Multiple solutions superimposed to resolve flows about complex configurations. Use of multiple, overset grids in computational fluid dynamics extends application of finite-difference methods to more complex configurations. Rather than trying to generate single mesh about all components of configuration, multiple, individual meshes used, then overset on major grid. Major grid used to resolve flow field or wrapped around main component.

Dougherty, F. C.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Vortical Flow Prediction Using an Adaptive Unstructured Grid Method

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method has been employed to compute vortical flows around slender wing/body configurations. The emphasis of the paper is on the effectiveness of an adaptive grid procedure in "capturing" concentrated vortices generated at sharp edges or flow separation lines of lifting surfaces flying at high angles of attack. The method is based on a tetrahedral unstructured grid technology developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. Two steady-state, subsonic, inviscid and Navier-Stokes flow test cases are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method for solving practical vortical flow problems. The first test case concerns vortex flow over a simple 65' delta wing with different values of leading-edge bluntness, and the second case is that of a more complex fighter configuration. The superiority of the adapted solutions in capturing the vortex flow structure over the conventional unadapted results is demonstrated by comparisons with the windtunnel experimental data. The study shows that numerical prediction of vortical flows is highly sensitive to the local grid resolution and that the implementation of grid adaptation is essential when applying CFD methods to such complicated flow problems.

Pirzadeh, Shahyar Z.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Vortical Flow Prediction Using an Adaptive Unstructured Grid Method

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method has been employed to compute vortical flows around slender wing/body configurations. The emphasis of the paper is on the effectiveness of an adaptive grid procedure in "capturing" concentrated vortices generated at sharp edges or flow separation lines of lifting surfaces flying at high angles of attack. The method is based on a tetrahedral unstructured grid technology developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. Two steady-state, subsonic, inviscid and Navier-Stokes flow test cases are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method for solving practical vortical flow problems. The first test case concerns vortex flow over a simple 65deg delta wing with different values of leading-edge bluntness, and the second case is that of a more complex fighter configuration. The superiority of the adapted solutions in capturing the vortex flow structure over the conventional unadapted results is demonstrated by comparisons with the windtunnel experimental data. The study shows that numerical prediction of vortical flows is highly sensitive to the local grid resolution and that the implementation of grid adaptation is essential when applying CFD methods to such complicated flow problems.

Pirzadeh, Shahyar Z.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Dominant balance-based adaptive mesh refinement for incompressible fluid flows

This work introduces a novel adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) method that utilizes dominant balance analysis (DBA) for efficient and accurate grid adaptation in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The proposed method leverages a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to classify grid cells into active and passive regions based on the dominant physical interactions within the equation space. By modeling truncation error probabilistically from discretized terms, the method identifies regions of high interaction where numerical accuracy is most sensitive to resolution. Unlike traditional AMR strategies, this approach does not rely on heuristic-based sensors or user-defined thresholds, providing a fully automated and problem-independent framework for AMR. Applied to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for steady and unsteady flow past a cylinder, the DBA-based AMR method achieves comparable accuracy to high-resolution grids while reducing computational costs by up to 70 %. The validation highlights the method’s effectiveness in capturing complex flow features while minimizing grid cells, directing computational resources toward regions with the most critical dynamics. This modular and scalable strategy is adaptable to a wide range of applications, presenting a promising tool for efficient high-fidelity simulations in CFD and other multiphysics domains.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2025

High-Performance Computing Based EMT Simulation: Power Grid with IBRs

Electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation of power grids with high-fidelity models of inverter-based resources (IBRs) is time-consuming and difficult to scale. The necessity for high-fidelity models of IBRs that incorporate the dynamics of individual inverters within IBRs has been showcased in recent studies. These studies focused on events with partial power reduction in each IBR during a transmission line fault in the power grid. These types of events have been documented in multiple North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) reports in the past decade. It is imperative then to find solutions to speed-up EMT simulations and scale the size of the region with IBRs studied in EMT simulations. In this paper, a combination of numerical simulation algorithms with high-performance computing techniques are employed in discretization and linear solvers employed in the proposed RE-INTEGRATE EMT simulation platform for power grid with IBRs. For ease of scalability, modular and object-oriented programming is used as these techniques are implemented. Additionally, automation software is developed to convert legacy software codes to the proposed RE-INTEGRATE EMT simulation platform. Thereafter, this platform is evaluated on multi-core central processing units (CPUs). Finally, scale-up tests are performed to showcase the scalability that is possible.

Marthi, Phani Ratna Vanamali [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000↗

NASA NTRS1991

The development of a CFD potential method for the analysis of tilt-rotors

A new CFD potential code, FPX (eXtended Full-Potential), has been developed for application to both helicopters and tilt-rotors. The code solves the unsteady, three-dimensional full potential equation and is an extension of the rotor code, FPR. Both entropy and viscosity corrections are included to enhance the physical modeling capabilities. A number of efficiency related modifications have yielded a factor of two speed-up in the code. An axial flow capability has been added to treat tilt-rotor in forward flight (cruise mode). In order to employ streamwise periodicity and accurately solve for the propagation of acoustic signals in the tip region, an H-H topology has been added to the basic O-H grid system. Computations are performed for the XV-15 Standard and ATB blades at high-speed conditions. Comparisons are made for the blade aerodynamics and the induced fuselage cabin pressure for a range of Mach numbers. Grid generation, wake treatment, and far-field wall treatment are identified as problem areas with recommendations for future research.

Bridgeman, John O.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Improved Blending-Function Algebraic Generation Of Grids

Method of algebraic generation of grids used in computing flows incorporates blending-function techniques to obtain high degree of orthogonality of each grid on its bounding surfaces and to blend grid smoothly, making it conform to all boundaries. Demonstrated in two dimensions, and applied in continuing development of software for real-time interactive generation of three-dimensional grids with color graphical displays. Software used routinely in generating grids for computing flows of practical interest.

Ching-Chung Luh, Raymond↗

NASA NTRS2004

Development of a Flexible Framework for Hypersonic Navier-Stoke Space Shuttle Orbiter Meshes

A flexible framework constructing block structured volume grids for hypersonic Navier-Strokes flow simulations was developed for the analysis of the Shuttle Orbiter Columbia. The development of the framework, which was partially basedon the requirements of the primary flow solvers used resulted in an ability to directly correlate solutions contributed by participating groups on a common surface mesh. A foundation was built through the assessment of differences between differnt solvers, which provided confidence for independent assessment of other damage scenarios by team members. The framework draws on the experience of NASA Langley and NASA Ames Research Centers in structured grid generation, and consists of a grid generation, and consist of a grid generation process implemented through a division of responsibilities. The nominal division of labor consisted of NASA Johnson Space Center coordinating the damage scenarios to be analyzed by the Aerothermodynamics Columbia Accident Investigation (ACAI) team, Ames developing the surface grids that described the computational volume about the Orbiter, and Langley improving grid quality of Ames generated data and constructing the final computational volume grids. Distributing the work among the participant in th ACAI team resulted in significantl less time required to construct complete meshes than possible by any individual participant. The approach demonstrated that the One-NASA grid generation team could sustain the demand of for five new meshes to explore new damage scenarios within an aggressive time-line.

Alter, Stephen J.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Advances in Parallelization for Large Scale Oct-Tree Mesh Generation

Despite great advancements in the parallelization of numerical simulation codes over the last 20 years, it is still common to perform grid generation in serial. Generating large scale grids in serial often requires using special "grid generation" compute machines that can have more than ten times the memory of average machines. While some parallel mesh generation techniques have been proposed, generating very large meshes for LES or aeroacoustic simulations is still a challenging problem. An automated method for the parallel generation of very large scale off-body hierarchical meshes is presented here. This work enables large scale parallel generation of off-body meshes by using a novel combination of parallel grid generation techniques and a hybrid "top down" and "bottom up" oct-tree method. Meshes are generated using hardware commonly found in parallel compute clusters. The capability to generate very large meshes is demonstrated by the generation of off-body meshes surrounding complex aerospace geometries. Results are shown including a one billion cell mesh generated around a Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle geometry, which was generated on 64 processors in under 45 minutes.

O'Connell, Matthew↗

NASA NTRS1988

A conservative approach for flow field calculations on multiple grids

In the computation of flow fields about complex configurations, it is very difficult to construct body-fitted coordinate systems. An alternative approach is to use several grids at once, each of which is generated independently. This procedure is called the 'multiple grids' or 'zonal grids' approach and its applications are investigated in this study. The method follows the conservative approach and provides conservation of fluxes at grid interfaces. The Euler equations are solved numerically on such grids for various configurations. The numerical scheme used is the finite-volume technique with a three-stage Runge-Kutta time integration. The code is vectorized and programmed to run on the CDC VPS-32 computer. Some steady state solutions of the Euler equations are presented and discussed.

Kathong, M.↗

NASA NTRS1988

A conservative approach for flow field calculations on multiple grids

In the computation of flow fields about complex configurations, it is very difficult to construct body-fitted coordinate systems. An alternative approach is to use several grids at once, each of which is generated independently. This procedure is called the multiple grids or zonal grids approach and its applications are investigated in this study. The method follows the conservative approach and provides conservation of fluxes at grid interfaces. The Euler equations are solved numerically on such grids for various configurations. The numerical scheme used is the finite-volume technique with a three-state Runge-Kutta time integration. The code is vectorized and programmed to run on the CDC VPS-32 computer. Some steady state solutions of the Euler equations are presented and discussed.

Kathong, Monchai↗