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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

Extending PETSc's Composable Hierarchical Solvers (Final Technical Report)

This report documents research activities conducted at CU Boulder as part of Extending PETSc’s Composable Hierarchical Solvers, which has been part of a collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory (separate award). Our work has focused on performance-portable end-to-end GPU solvers demonstrated via exemplary applications in nonlinear fluid and structural mechanics. We describe advances in algorithmic composition and analysis in the context of these applications, but the implementations are fully documented and decoupled, and in use by other projects. We believe the vertical integration achieved through collaboration with ECP’s CEED and the PSAAP center at CU was necessary to take risks with data structures and algorithms.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Superior discretizations and AMG solvers for extremely anisotropic diffusion via hyperbolic operators [Slides]

Diffusion in magnetic confinement fusion is extremely anisotropic in the direction of field lines. Rewrote diffusion system based on directional gradients, apply discretization and solver techniques developed for advection. Orders of magnitude decrease in error and solve wallclock time vs. traditional methods. The next steps include: (1) incorporate into larger MHD simulations, (2) better solvers for closed field lines or mixed regimes, and (3) possibly other extremely anisotropic equations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Optimal Power Flow Derived Sparse Linear Solver Benchmarks

Due to the changing nature of the power grid, it is increasingly important to be able to solve a high-fidelity optimal power-flow models on large power networks. This high-fidelity problem, called AC Optimal Power Flow (ACOPF), is a nonlinear, nonconvex optimization problem. One of the few reliable ways of solving such a problem is interior point methods. These methods result in sparse linear systems where the coefficient matrix is symmetric, indefinite and nearly always ill-conditioned. As such, they are particularly challenging for sparse linear solvers and represent a considerable computational bottleneck in solving the ACOPF problem. In this paper, we introduce a repository of linear systems captured from ACOPF problems when solved by the open-source optimizer IPOPT. These matrices are meant to be used as a test suite for sparse linear solver development.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Recent Advances of PyROS: A Pyomo Solver for Nonconvex Two-Stage Robust Optimization in Process Systems Engineering

This poster highlights uncertainty and technical risk reduction capabilities in CCSI2, with a focus on robust optimization. It presents recent advances of the two-stage robust optimization (RO) solver PyROS and applications to advanced energy systems optimization. To demonstrate the computational performance and reliability of PyROS, a benchmarking study on a library of over 8,500 small-scale RO problems is presented. Further, PyROS is used to obtain robust system designs of a MEA-based CO2 absorber under uncertainty in the thermodynamic property models for a variety of CO2 capture rate threshold requirements. Overall, the results demonstrate that the PyROS solver, including recent extensions to multi-stage RO settings, provides a reliable avenue to optimize the design and operation of advanced energy systems subject to various sources of parametric uncertainty.

Sherman, Jason↗

Recent Advances of PyROS: A Pyomo Solver for Nonconvex Two-Stage Robust Optimization in Process Systems Engineering

This poster highlights uncertainty and technical risk reduction capabilities in CCSI2, with a focus on robust optimization. It presents recent advances of the two-stage robust optimization (RO) solver PyROS and applications to advanced energy systems optimization. To demonstrate the computational performance and reliability of PyROS, a benchmarking study on a library of over 8,500 small-scale RO problems is presented. Further, PyROS is used to obtain robust system designs of a MEA-based CO2 absorber under uncertainty in the thermodynamic property models for a variety of CO2 capture rate threshold requirements. Overall, the results demonstrate that the PyROS solver, including recent extensions to multi-stage RO settings, provides a reliable avenue to optimize the design and operation of advanced energy systems subject to various sources of parametric uncertainty.

Sherman, Jason↗

TIGER, A thermodynamics Equilibrium Tool for Explosives Update: Improved Solver

The thermodynamic equilibrium code known as TIGER has been in use since the 1970s and is designed to calculate the performance of energetic materials during detonation at high temperatures and pressures. The original TIGER code utilized a limited database consisting of 12 gaseous and 3 condensed constituents, which were composed of the elements carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and aluminum (Al). In contrast, the more modern JCZS3 database features a significantly larger dataset, including 756 gaseous species, 189 positive and negative ions, and 496 condensed constituents derived from 62 different elements. While this expanded product species database allows for the exploration of a broader range of problems relevant to our laboratory, it also introduces challenges related to convergence, particularly when both liquid and solid species coexist under a vapor dome. In this work, we present an improved TIGER solution technique aimed at accurately determining the equilibrium state for systems that can produce a diverse array of products, including both solid and liquid condensed species. This report presents the status of the TIGER solver as of the end of FY25. Ongoing efforts are focused on enhancing the solver, and the report outlines several planned improvements. We anticipate that further developments will require additional documentation in the future.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A Comparison of GPU-Accelerated Multiphase CFD Solvers on the Polaris Supercomputer: Part 1

This report is in support of the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE). With INCITE-level resources, one project, titled BubblyFlow, was granted computational resources for the 2025 calendar year on the Polaris supercomputer at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF). The project aims to conduct simulations to understand the fundamental characteristics of turbulent bubbly flow phenomena in nature. Staff at the ALCF and Argonne’s Computational Science division, along with collaborators at the City College of New York and University of Illinois at Chicago, helped a summer student to assess the accuracy and performance of two high performance computing (HPC) codes. Both codes, ImExLBM and FluTAS, are fundamentally different in their mathematical and numerical modeling. However, both may be used to solve the same physical problem. The collaboration sought to better understand the differences between both codes in terms of accuracy and efficiency. This would ultimately help the BubblyFlow project better utilize resources and establish a knowledge-base of code capabilities in future simulation campaigns. We compare ImExLBM and FluTAS, two high-performance multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers, in terms of physical fidelity, time-to-solution, and parallel efficiency. We validate ImExLBM (Implicit-Explicit Lattice Boltzmann Method) against a canonical benchmark and assess it’s performance relative to FluTAS (Fluid Transport Accelerated Solver), a well-established open-source CFD code.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Quantification of LEU Holdup using gamma ray imaging and inverse transport solver

Holdup is the residual amount of special nuclear material (SNM) remaining in a processing facility after the bulk materials have been cleaned out. In commercial uranium processing facilities, quantification of holdup is a major challenge because of the highly variable shapes and sizes of the deposits. Any method that attempts to generalize and calibrate deposit shapes in order to quantify holdup will be prone to high uncertainties. Uncertainties on the order of ±50% are typical in holdup results. In international safeguards applications, a ±50% uncertainty can result in a large amount of material unaccounted for (MUF) thereby increasing the difficulty of detecting material diversion and facility misuse. An imaging-based methodology has been developed with the objective of significantly reducing this uncertainty by using the true deposit shape, instead of relying on oversimplified geometric assumptions. The project is a collaboration between ORNL, Y-12, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. Uranium sources of known masses were measured using the Germanium Gamma-ray Imager (GeGI), a high-resolution imaging spectrometer, creating a pixelated map for each spectral bin. Two different gamma imaging methods are employed in this work: coded aperture imaging and Compton imaging. A validated MonteCarlo model of the detector has been developed using the GEANT4 code for determining the intrinsic response of the detector, its enclosure, and the coded aperture mask. An inverse transport solver based on the Markov Chain Monte-Carlo approach known as Differential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) is employed to use the measurement data from the image pixels (coded aperture or Compton) to solve for the mass of 235 U in the deposit. A reliable method based on the DREAM solver has been developed to flag the infinite thickness condition of a uranium deposit. The project team is working towards improving the image reconstruction for Compton imaging so that a better localization of the source can be achieved. Besides treating the coded aperture and Compton imaging methods independently, the project is also evaluating a combined method that uses the Compton scatter data from a coded aperture measurement. GEANT4 simulations are being performed to evaluate the combined approach. The impact on the DREAM optimization as the source thickness progressively approaches infinite thickness is being evaluated. A number of uranium sources available at ORNL have been measured, and the DREAM results have been tested and validated for the coded aperture imaging. A similar effort will be carried out to validate the Compton based method once the development of algorithms for better localization are complete. The imaging based quantification is very amenable to unattended monitoring of holdup accumulation at key measurement points. A proof of concept measurement has been completed to demonstrate this capability The current work used the high energy resolution imager GeGI. However, the approach and methodologies are applicable to other imagers such as the cadmium zin telluride (CZT) based imager manufactured by H3D, Inc.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Variants and extensions of a fast direct numerical cauchy-riemann solver, with illustrative applications

Revised and extended versions of a fast, direct (noniterative) numerical Cauchy-Riemann solver are presented for solving finite difference approximations of first order systems of partial differential equations. Although the difference operators treated are linear and elliptic, one significant application of these extended direct Cauchy-Riemann solvers is in the fast, semidirect (iterative) solution of fluid dynamic problems governed by the nonlinear mixed elliptic-hyperbolic equations of transonic flow. Different versions of the algorithms are derived and the corresponding FORTRAN computer programs for a simple example problem are described and listed. The algorithms are demonstrated to be efficient and accurate.

Martin, E. D.↗

MACSYMA's symbolic ordinary differential equation solver

The MACSYMA's symbolic ordinary differential equation solver ODE2 is described. The code for this routine is delineated, which is of interest because it is written in top-level MACSYMA language, and may serve as a good example of programming in that language. Other symbolic ordinary differential equation solvers are mentioned.

Golden, J. P.↗

Fast methods incorporating direct elliptic solvers for nonlinear applications in fluid dynamics

Semidirect methods are discussed, their present role, as well as some developments for their application in computational fluid dynamics. A semidirect method is a computational scheme that uses a fast, direct, elliptic solver as the driving algorithm for the iterative solution of finite difference equations. Specific subtopics include: (1) direct Cauchy Riemann solvers for first order elliptic equations; (2) application of the semidirect method to the mixed elliptic hyperbolic problem of steady, inviscid transonic flow; and (3) the treatment of interior conditions, such as those on an airfoil or wing, in semidirect methods.

Martin, E. D.↗

A block iterative LU solver for weakly coupled linear systems

A hybrid technique, called the block iterative LU solver, is proposed for solving the linear equations resulting from a finite element numerical analysis of certain fluid dynamics problems where the equations are weakly coupled between distinct sets of variables. Either the block Jacobi iterative method or the block Gauss-Seidel iterative solver is combined with LU decomposition.

Cooke, C. H.↗

Navier-Stokes cascade analysis with a stiff Kappa-Epsilon turbulence solver

The two dimensional, compressible, thin layer Navier-Stokes equations with the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model and the kinetic energy-energy dissipation (k-epsilon) model are solved numerically to simulate the flow through a cascade. The governing equations are solved for the entire flow domain, without the boundary layer assumptions. The stiffness of the k-epsilon equations is discussed. A semi-implicit, Runge-Kutta, time-marching scheme is developed to solve the k-epsilon equations. The impact of the k-epsilon solver on the explicit Runge-Kutta Navier-Stokes solver is discussed. Numerical solutions are presented for two dimensional turbulent flow over a flat plate and a double circular arc cascade and compared with experimental data.

Liu, Jong-Shang↗

The development of an intelligent interface to a computational fluid dynamics flow-solver code

Researchers at NASA Lewis are currently developing an 'intelligent' interface to aid in the development and use of large, computational fluid dynamics flow-solver codes for studying the internal fluid behavior of aerospace propulsion systems. This paper discusses the requirements, design, and implementation of an intelligent interface to Proteus, a general purpose, 3-D, Navier-Stokes flow solver. The interface is called PROTAIS to denote its introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) concepts to the Proteus code.

Williams, Anthony D.↗

A point implicit unstructured grid solver for the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

An upwind finite element technique that uses cell centered quantities and implicit and/or explicit time marching has been developed for computing hypersonic laminar viscous flows using adaptive unstructured triangular grids. A structured grid of quadrilaterals is laid out near the body surface. For inviscid flows the method is stable at Courant numbers of over 100,000. A first order basic scheme and a higher order flux corrected transport (FCT) scheme have been implemented. This technique has been applied to the problem of predicting type III and IV shock wave interactions on a cylinder, with a view of simulating the pressure and heating rate augmentation caused by an impinging shock on the leading edge of a cowl lip of an engine inlet. The predictions of wall pressure and heating rates compare very well with experimental data. The flow features are very distinctly captured with a sequence of adaptively generated grids. The adaptive mesh generator and the upwind Navier-Stokes solver are combined in a set of programs called LARCNESS, an acronym for Langley Adaptive Remeshing Code and Navier-Stokes Solver.

Thareja, Rajiv R.↗

Navier-Stokes cascade analysis with a stiff k-epsilon turbulence solver

The two dimensional, compressible, thin layer Navier-Stokes equations with the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model and the kinetic energy-energy dissipation (k-epsilon) model are solved numerically to simulate the flow through a cascade. The governing equations are solved for the entire flow domain, without the boundary layer assumptions. The stiffness of the k-epsilon equations is discussed. A semi-implicit, Runge-Kutta, time-marching scheme is developed to solve the k-epsilon equations. The impact of the k-epsilon solver on the explicit Runge-Kutta Navier-Stokes solver is discussed. Numerical solutions are presented for two dimensional turbulent flow over a flat plate and a double circular arc cascade and compared with experimental data.

Liu, Jong-Shang↗

Fast Euler solver for transonic airfoils. I - Theory. II - Applications

Equations written in terms of generalized Riemann variables are presently integrated by inverting six bidiagonal matrices and two tridiagonal matrices, using an implicit Euler solver that is based on the lambda-formulation. The solution is found on a C-grid whose boundaries are very close to the airfoil. The fast solver is then applied to the computation of several flowfields on a NACA 0012 airfoil at various Mach number and alpha values, yielding results that are primarily concerned with transonic flows. The effects of grid fineness and boundary distances are analyzed; the code is found to be robust and accurate, as well as fast.

Dadone, Andrea↗

3-D plume flow computations with an upwind solver

In the present study multi-nozzle plume flows are computed with a three-dimensional, Navier-Stokes solver. Numerical simulations are performed with the flux-split, two-factor, time symptotic, viscous flow solver. The two factor splitting provides a stable three-dimensional solution procedure under ideal-gas assumptions. Viscous, ideal-gas solutions for a thin lip symmetrical nozzle are compared with experimental and numerical solutions. Computed solutions to axisymmetric and three-dimensional, multi-nozzle problems at various altitudes and flight conditions demonstrate flow field complexity and three-dimensional effects.

Venkatapathy, Ethiraj↗