Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Linear Solvers”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 343 records · Page 19

Batched sparse direct solver design and evaluation in SuperLU_DIST

Over the course of interactions with various application teams, the need for batched sparse linear algebra functions has emerged in order to make more efficient use of the GPUs for many small and sparse linear algebra problems. In this paper, we present our recent work on a batched sparse direct solver for GPUs. The sparse LU factorization is computed by the levels of the elimination tree, leveraging the batched dense operations at each level and a new batched Scatter GPU kernel. The sparse triangular solve is computed by the level sets of the directed acyclic graph (DAG) of the triangular matrix. Batched operations overcome the large overhead associated with launching many small kernels. For medium sized matrix batches with not-so-small bandwidth, using an NVIDIA A100 GPU, our new batched sparse direct solver is orders of magnitude faster than a batched banded solver and uses less than one-tenth of the memory.

Boukaram, Wajih↗

Parallel tridiagonal equation solvers

Three parallel algorithms were compared for the direct solution of tridiagonal linear systems of equations. The algorithms are suitable for computers such as ILLIAC 4 and CDC STAR. For array computers similar to ILLIAC 4, cyclic odd-even reduction has the least operation count for highly structured sets of equations, and recursive doubling has the least count for relatively unstructured sets of equations. Since the difference in operation counts for these two algorithms is not substantial, their relative running times may be more related to overhead operations, which are not measured in this paper. The third algorithm, based on Buneman's Poisson solver, has more arithmetic operations than the others, and appears to be the least favorable. For pipeline computers similar to CDC STAR, cyclic odd-even reduction appears to be the most preferable algorithm for all cases.

Stone, H. S.↗

FIDDLE: A Computer Code for Finite Difference Development of Linear Elasticity in Generalized Curvilinear Coordinates

A three-dimensional numerical solver based on finite-difference solution of three-dimensional elastodynamic equations in generalized curvilinear coordinates has been developed and used to generate data such as radial and tangential stresses over various gear component geometries under rotation. The geometries considered are an annulus, a thin annular disk, and a thin solid disk. The solution is based on first principles and does not involve lumped parameter or distributed parameter systems approach. The elastodynamic equations in the velocity-stress formulation that are considered here have been used in the solution of problems of geophysics where non-rotating Cartesian grids are considered. For arbitrary geometries, these equations along with the appropriate boundary conditions have been cast in generalized curvilinear coordinates in the present study.

Kaul, Upender K.↗

Lax-Oleinik-Type Formulas and Efficient Algorithms for Certain High-Dimensional Optimal Control Problems

Two of the main challenges in optimal control are solving problems with state-dependent running costs and developing efficient numerical solvers that are computationally tractable in high dimension. In this paper, we provide analytical solutions to certain optimal control problems whose running cost depends on the state variable and with constraints on the control. We also provide Lax-Oleinik-type representation formulas for the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equations with state-dependent Hamiltonians. Additionally, we present an efficient, grid-free numerical solver based on our representation formulas, which is shown to scale linearly with the state dimension, and thus, to overcome the curse of dimensionality. Using existing optimization methods and the min-plus technique, we extend our numerical solvers to address more general classes of convex and nonconvex initial costs. We demonstrate the capabilities of our numerical solvers using implementations on a central processing unit (CPU) and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). In several cases, our FPGA implementation obtains over a 10 times speedup compared to the CPU, which demonstrates the promising performance boosts FPGAs can achieve. Furthermore, our numerical results show that our solvers have the potential to serve as a building block for solving broader classes of high-dimensional optimal control problems in real-time.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

High Speed Data Investigation of an LOX/LNG Combustor Assisted by Non-linear Acoustic Simulations

During testing of a regenerative cooled liquid oxygen/liquid natural gas combustor large amplitude combustion instabilities were observed in half of the series conducted. These instabilities produced an unsteady pressure Root Mean Square (RMS) value greater than the chamber steady state pressure. Quick look investigations of the test data presented some standard indications of non-linear tangential instability such as a non-sinusoidal time series, and larger peaks than trough. Also observed in the data quick look were some atypical findings including a first harmonic amplitude larger than the fundamental, and numerous side bands on the fundamental and subsequent harmonics. A simplified model of the combustor was created using a commercially available finite element software. The first tangential acoustic mode was then simulated using a non-linear wave equation in conjunction with a time explicit discontinuous Gelarkin flow solver. Numerous simulations were evaluated providing valuable insight and reproducing the atypical findings in the data. Side bands were created through non-linear signal modulation like an AM radio. This happens due to the non-linear steepening and relaxing that occurs in large amplitude oscillations. The simulation was also able to reproduce a signal with a first harmonic amplitude larger than the fundamental. Investigating the pressure signal at multiple locations across the chamber head end revealed radial dependent frequency content. A literature review of the topic revealed corroboration of these effect in idealized geometries.

Combustion Stability↗

High Speed Data Investigation of an LOX/LNG Combustor Assisted by Non-linear Acoustic Simulations

During testing of a regenerative cooled liquid oxygen/liquid natural gas combustor large amplitude combustion instabilities were observed in half of the series conducted. These instabilities produced an unsteady pressure Root Mean Square (RMS) value greater than the chamber steady state pressure. Quick look investigations of the test data presented some standard indications of non-linear tangential instability such as a non-sinusoidal time series, and larger peaks than trough. Also observed in the data quick look were some atypical findings including a first harmonic amplitude larger than the fundamental, and numerous side bands on the fundamental and subsequent harmonics. A simplified model of the combustor was created using a commercially available finite element software. The first tangential acoustic mode was then simulated using a non-linear wave equation in conjunction with a time explicit discontinuous Gelarkin flow solver. Numerous simulations were evaluated providing valuable insight and reproducing the atypical findings in the data. Side bands were created through non-linear signal modulation like an AM radio. This happens due to the non-linear steepening and relaxing that occurs in large amplitude oscillations. The simulation was also able to reproduce a signal with a first harmonic amplitude larger than the fundamental. Investigating the pressure signal at multiple locations across the chamber head end revealed radial dependent frequency content. A literature review of the topic revealed corroboration of these effect in idealized geometries.

Combustion Stability↗

Scalable and Memory-Efficient Algorithms for Controlling Networked Epidemic Processes Using Multiplicative Weights Update Method

We study the problem of designing scalable algorithms to find effective intervention strategies for controlling stochastic epidemic processes on networks. This is a common problem arising in agent based models for epidemic spread. Previous approaches to this problem focus on either heuristics with no guarantees or approximation algorithms that scale only to networks corresponding to county-sized populations, typically, with less than a million nodes. In particular, the mathematical-programming based approaches need to solve the Linear Program (LP) relaxation of the problem using an LP solver, which restricts the scalability of this approach. In this work, we overcome this restriction by designing an algorithm that adapts the multiplicative weights update (MWU) framework, along with the sample average approximation (SAA) technique, to approximately solve the linear program (LP) relaxation for the problem. To scale this approach further, we provide a memory-efficient algorithm that enables scaling to large networks, corresponding to country-size populations, with over 300 million nodes and 30 billion edges. Furthermore, we show that this approach provides near-optimal solutions to the LP in practice.

Sambaturu, Prathyush↗

Operator inference for non-intrusive model reduction of systems with non-polynomial nonlinear terms

Here in this work we present a non-intrusive model reduction method to learn low-dimensional models of dynamical systems with non-polynomial nonlinear terms that are spatially local and that are given in analytic form. In contrast to state-of-the-art model reduction methods that are intrusive and thus require full knowledge of the governing equations and the operators of a full model of the discretized dynamical system, the proposed approach requires only the non-polynomial terms in analytic form and learns the rest of the dynamics from snapshots computed with a potentially black-box full-model solver. The proposed method learns operators for the linear and polynomially nonlinear dynamics via a least-squares problem, where the given non-polynomial terms are incorporated on the right-hand side. The least-squares problem is linear and thus can be solved efficiently in practice. The proposed method is demonstrated on three problems governed by partial differential equations, namely the diffusion–reaction Chafee–Infante model, a tubular reactor model for reactive flows, and a batch-chromatography model that describes a chemical separation process. The numerical results provide evidence that the proposed approach learns reduced models that achieve comparable accuracy as models constructed with state-of-the-art intrusive model reduction methods that require full knowledge of the governing equations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The latent variable proximal point algorithm for variational problems with inequality constraints

The latent variable proximal point (LVPP) algorithm is a framework for solving infinite-dimensional variational problems with pointwise inequality constraints. The algorithm is a saddle point reformulation of the Bregman proximal point algorithm. At the continuous level, the two formulations are equivalent, but the saddle point formulation is more amenable to discretization because it introduces a structure-preserving transformation between a latent function space and the feasible set. Working in this latent space is much more convenient for enforcing inequality constraints than the feasible set, as discretizations can employ general linear combinations of suitable basis functions, and nonlinear solvers can involve general additive updates. LVPP yields numerical methods with observed mesh-independence for obstacle problems, contact, fracture, plasticity, and others besides; in many cases, for the first time. The framework also extends to more complex constraints, providing means to enforce convexity in the Monge–Ampère equation and handling quasi-variational inequalities, where the underlying constraint depends implicitly on the unknown solution. Here, in this paper, we describe the LVPP algorithm in a general form and apply it to ten problems from across mathematics.

Inequality constraints↗

Simulations of plasmas and fluids using anti-symmetric models

ALMA (Anti-symmetric, Large-Moment, Accelerated) is a fast, flexible, and scalable toolkit designed to solve hyperbolic conservation law systems in hybrid supercomputers. Here this manuscript describes the theoretical background and implementation of ALMA, which uses the anti-symmetric formulation of fluids to obtain simple, robust, and easily paralellizable code. Practical GPU acceleration is realized on entire applications with an overall gain factor of 2 to 4. ALMA also provides a parallel, GPU accelerated sparse solver based on geometric multigrid, capable of diagonalizing linear systems with 239 unknowns. Here we demonstrate ALMA's scaling and performance in petascale supercomputers and use standard fluid models to verify the overall approach with canonical benchmark problems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A quantum eigenvalue solver based on tensor networks

Electronic ground states are of central importance in chemical simulations, but have remained beyond the reach of efficient classical algorithms except in cases of weak electron correlation or one-dimensional spatial geometry. We introduce a hybrid quantum-classical eigenvalue solver that constructs a wavefunction ansatz from a linear combination of matrix product states in rotated orbital bases, enabling the characterization of strongly correlated ground states with arbitrary spatial geometry. The energy is converged via a gradient-free generalized sweep algorithm based on quantum subspace diagonalization, with a potentially exponential speedup in the off-diagonal matrix element contractions upon translation into compact quantum circuits of linear depth in the number of qubits. Chemical accuracy is attained in numerical experiments for both a stretched water molecule and an octahedral arrangement of hydrogen atoms, achieving substantially better correlation energies compared to a unitary coupled-cluster benchmark, with orders of magnitude reductions in quantum resource estimates and a surprisingly high tolerance to shot noise. This proof-of-concept study suggests a promising new avenue for scaling up simulations of strongly correlated chemical systems on near-term quantum hardware.

chemistry↗

Scalable Predictive Control and Optimization for Grid Integration of Large-Scale Distributed Energy Resources

Integrating a large number of distributed energy resources (DERs) into the power grid needs a scalable power balancing method. We formulate the power balancing problem as a look-ahead optimization problem to be solved sequentially by a power distribution system aggregator based on a model predictive control (MPC) framework. Solving large-scale look-ahead control problems requires proper configuration of the control steps. In this paper, to solve large-scale control problems, we propose a variable time granularity where control time steps nearby the current control step have finer resolutions. The aggregator objective includes maximization of power production revenue and minimization of power purchasing expense, renewable power curtailment, and mileage costs for energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations while satisfying system capacity and operational constraints. The control problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) and solved using the XpressMP solver. We perform simulations considering a copper plate representation of a large distribution network consisting of 2507 devices (control-lable DERs), including curtailable photovoltaics (PVs), energy storage batteries, EV charging stations, and buildings with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units (HVACs). We show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in managing DERs interactively for maximum energy trading profit and local supply-demand power balancing. Finally, we demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other benchmark controllers regarding computation time without compromising operational performance.

DER↗

Computation of the unsteady facilitated transport of oxygen in hemoglobin

The transport of a reacting permeant diffusing through a thin membrane is extended to more realistic dissociation models. A new nonlinear analysis of the reaction-diffusion equations, using implicit finite-difference methods and direct block solvers, is used to study the limits of linearized and equilibrium theories. Computed curves of molecular oxygen permeating through hemoglobin solution are used to illustrate higher-order reaction models, the effect of concentration boundary layers at the membrane interfaces, and the transient buildup of oxygen flux.

Davis, Sanford↗

Nonlinear Analysis of Airfoil High-Intensity Gust Response Using a High-Order Prefactored Compact Code

The nonlinear response of symmetric and loaded airfoils to an impinging vortical gust is investigated in the parametric space of gust dimension, intensity, and frequency. The study, which was designed to investigate the validity limits for a linear analysis, is implemented by applying a nonlinear high-order prefactored compact code and comparing results with linear solutions from the GUST3D frequency-domain solver. Both the unsteady aerodynamic and acoustic gust responses are examined.

Crivellini, A.↗

Scalable Predictive Control and Optimization for Grid Integration of Large-Scale Distributed Energy Resources: Preprint

Integration of a large number of distributed energy resources (DERs) into the power grid needs a scalable power balancing method. We formulate the power balancing problem as a look-ahead optimization problem to be solved sequentially by a power distribution system aggregator based on a model predictive control (MPC) framework. Solving large-scale look-ahead control problem requires proper configuration of the control steps. In this paper, to solve large-scale control problems, we propose a variable time granularity where control time steps nearby the current control step have finer resolutions. The aggregator objective includes maximization of power production revenue and minimization of power purchasing expense, renewable power curtailment, and mileage costs for energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations while satisfying system capacity and operational constraints. The control problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) and solved using the XpressMP solver. We perform simulations considering a copper plate representation of a large distribution network consisting of 2507 devices (controllable DERs) including curtailable photovoltaics (PVs), energy storage batteries, EV charging stations, and buildings with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units (HVACs). We show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in managing DERs interactively for maximum energy trading profit and local supply-demand power balancing. Finally, we demonstrate that the proposed method outperformed other benchmark controllers regarding computation time without compromising operational performance.

DER↗

Scalable Predictive Control and Optimization for Grid Integration of Large-Scale Distributed Energy Resources

Integrating a large number of distributed energy resources (DERs) into the power grid needs a scalable power balancing method. We formulate the power balancing problem as a look-ahead optimization problem to be solved sequentially by a power distribution system aggregator based on a model predictive control (MPC) framework. Solving large-scale look-ahead control problems requires proper configuration of the control steps. In this paper, to solve large-scale control problems, we propose a variable time granularity where control time steps nearby the current control step have finer resolutions. The aggregator objective includes maximization of power production revenue and minimization of power purchasing expense, renewable power curtailment, and mileage costs for energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations while satisfying system capacity and operational constraints. The control problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) and solved using the XpressMP solver. We perform simulations considering a copper plate representation of a large distribution network consisting of 2507 devices (controllable DERs), including curtailable photovoltaics (PVs), energy storage batteries, EV charging stations, and buildings with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units (HVACs). We show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in managing DERs interactively for maximum energy trading profit and local supply-demand power balancing. Finally, we demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other benchmark controllers regarding computation time without compromising operational performance.

DER↗

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.↗

Numerical Solutions for the CAWAPI Configuration on Unstructured Grids at NASA LaRC, United States

In support of the Cranked Arrow Wing Aerodynamic Project International (CAWAPI) with its goal of improving the Technology Readiness Level of flow solvers by comparing results with measured F-16XL-1 flight data, NASA Langley employed the TetrUSS unstructured grid solver, USM3D, to obtain solutions for all seven flight conditions of interest. A newly available solver version that incorporates a number of turbulence models, including the two-equation linear and non-linear k- , was used in this study. As a first test, a choice was made to utilize only a single grid resolution with the solver for the simulation of the different flight conditions. Comparisons are presented with three turbulence models in USM3D, flight data for surface pressure, boundary-layer profiles, and skin-friction distribution, as well as limited predictions from other solvers. A result of these comparisons is that the USM3D solver can be used in an engineering environment to predict vortex-flow physics on a complex configuration at flight Reynolds numbers with a two-equation linear k- turbulence model.

Lamar, John E.↗