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At least 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Probing the Dependence of the Intergalactic Medium on Large-scale Environment Using the Low-redshift Lyα Forest

We examine the statistics of the low-redshift Lyα forest in a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation using adaptive mesh refinement that has sufficient volume to include distinct large-scale environments. We compare our H i column density distribution of absorbers both with recent work and between two highly refined regions of our simulation: a large-scale overdensity and a large-scale underdensity (on scales of approximately 20 Mpc). We recover the average results presented by Kollmeier et al. using different simulation methods. We further break down these results as a function of environment to examine the detailed dependence of absorber statistics on large-scale density. We find that the slope of the H i column density distribution (CDD) in the range 10{sup 12.5} ≤ N{sub HI}/cm{sup −2} ≤ 10{sup 14.5} depends on environment such that the slope becomes steeper for higher environmental density, and this difference reflects distinct physical conditions of the intergalactic medium (IGM) on these scales. We track this difference to the different temperature structures of filaments in varying environments. Specifically, filaments in the overdensity are hotter, and correspondingly are composed of gas with lower H i fractions than those in underdense environments. Our results highlight that in order to understand the physics driving the H i CDD, we need not only improved accounting of the sources of ionizing UV photons, but also a clearer picture of the physical conditions of the IGM and how it may vary as a function of large-scale environment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Laboratory Photoionization Fronts in Nitrogen Gas: A Numerical Feasibility and Parameter Study

Photoionization fronts play a dominant role in many astrophysical situations but remain difficult to achieve in a laboratory experiment. We present the results from a computational parameter study evaluating the feasibility of the photoionization experiment presented in the design paper by Drake et al. in which a photoionization front is generated in a nitrogen medium. The nitrogen gas density and the Planckian radiation temperature of the X-ray source define each simulation. Simulations modeled experiments in which the X-ray flux is generated by a laser-heated gold foil, suitable for experiments using many kJ of laser energy, and experiments in which the flux is generated by a "z-pinch" device, which implodes a cylindrical shell of conducting wires. The models are run using crash, our block-adaptive-mesh code for multimaterial radiation hydrodynamics. The radiative transfer model uses multigroup, flux-limited diffusion with 30 radiation groups. In addition, electron heat conduction is modeled using a single-group, flux-limited diffusion. In the theory, a photoionization front can exist only when the ratios of the electron recombination rate to the photoionization rate and the electron-impact ionization rate to the recombination rate lie in certain ranges. These ratios are computed for several ionization states of nitrogen. Photoionization fronts are found to exist for laser-driven models with moderate nitrogen densities (~10 21 cm –3 ) and radiation temperatures above 90 eV. For "z-pinch"-driven models, lower nitrogen densities are preferred (<10 21 cm –3 ). Here, we conclude that the proposed experiments are likely to generate photoionization fronts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

The Role of Dredge-up in Double White Dwarf Mergers

We present the results of an investigation of the dredge-up and mixing during the merger of two white dwarfs (WDs) with different chemical compositions by conducting hydrodynamic simulations of binary mergers for three representative mass ratios. In all the simulations, the total mass of the two WDs is $\lesssim$1.0 M ⊙ . Mergers involving a CO and a He WD have been suggested as a possible formation channel for R Coronae Borealis (RCB)–type stars, and we are interested in testing if such mergers lead to conditions and outcomes in agreement with observations. Even if the conditions during the merger and subsequent nucleosynthesis favor the production of 18 O, the merger must avoid dredging up large amounts of 16 O, or else it will be difficult to produce sufficient 18 O to explain the oxygen ratio observed to be of order unity. Here, we performed a total of nine simulations using two different grid-based hydrodynamics codes using fixed and adaptive meshes and one smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code. We find that in most of the simulations, >10 -2 M ⊙ of 16 O is indeed dredged up during the merger. However, in SPH simulations where the accretor is a hybrid He/CO WD with a ~0.1 M ⊙ layer of helium on top, we find that no 16 O is being dredged up, while in the q = 0.8 simulation <10 -4 M ⊙ of 16 O has been brought up, making a WD binary consisting of a hybrid CO/He WD and a companion He WD an excellent candidate for the progenitor of RCB stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

MAESTROeX: A Massively Parallel Low Mach Number Astrophysical Solver

@e present MAESTROeX, a massively parallel solver for low Mach number astrophysical flows. The underlying low Mach number equation set allows for efficient, long-time integration for highly subsonic flows compared to compressible approaches. MAESTROeX is suitable for modeling full spherical stars as well as well as planar simulations of dynamics within localized regions of a star, and can robustly handle several orders of magnitude of density and pressure stratification. Previously, we have described the development of the predecessor of MAESTROeX, called MAESTRO, in a series of papers. Here, we present a new, greatly simplified temporal integration scheme that retains the same order of accuracy as our previous approaches. We also explore the use of alternative spatial mapping of the one-dimensional base state onto the full Cartesian grid. The code leverages the new AMReX software framework for block-structured adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) applications, allowing for scalability to large fractions of leadership-class machines. Finally, using our previous studies on the convective phase of single-degenerate progenitor models of SNe Ia as a guide, we characterize the performance of the code and validate the new algorithmic features. Like MAESTRO, MAESTROeX is fully open source.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

R Coronae Borealis Star Evolution: Simulating 3D Merger Events to 1D Stellar Evolution Including Large-scale Nucleosynthesis

R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are rare hydrogen-deficient carbon-rich variable supergiants thought to be the result of dynamically unstable white dwarf mergers. In this article, we attempt to model RCB stars through all the relevant timescales by simulating a merger event in Octo-tiger, a 3D adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamics code, and mapping the post-merger object into MESA, a 1D stellar evolution code. We then post-process the nucleosynthesis on a much larger nuclear reaction network to study the enhancement of s-process elements. We present models that match observations or previous studies in most surface abundances, isotopic ratios, early evolution, and lifetimes. We also observe similar mixing behavior to previous modeling attempts that result in the partial He-burning products visible on the surface in observations. However, we do note that our subsolar models lack any enhancement in s-process elements, which we attribute to a lack of hydrogen in the envelope. We also find that the 16 O/ 18 O isotopic ratio is very sensitive to initial hydrogen abundance and increases outside of the acceptable range with a hydrogen mass fraction greater than 10 -4 .

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Betelgeuse as a Merger of a Massive Star with a Companion

We investigate the merger between a 16M ⊙ star, on its way to becoming a red supergiant (RSG), and a 4M ⊙ main-sequence companion. Our study employs three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations using the state-of-the-art adaptive mesh refinement code Octo-Tiger. The initially corotating binary undergoes interaction and mass transfer, resulting in the accumulation of mass around the companion and its subsequent loss through the second Lagrangian point (L2). The companion eventually plunges into the envelope of the primary, leading to its spin-up and subsequent merger with the helium core. We examine the internal structural properties of the post-merger star, as well as the merger environment and the outflow driven by the merger. Our findings reveal the ejection of approximately ∼0.6 M ⊙ of material in an asymmetric and somewhat bipolar outflow. We import the post-merger stellar structure into the MESA stellar evolution code to model its long-term nuclear evolution. In certain cases, the post-merger star exhibits persistent rapid equatorial surface rotation as it evolves in the H–R diagram toward the observed location of Betelgeuse. These cases demonstrate surface rotation velocities of a similar magnitude to those observed in Betelgeuse, along with a chemical composition resembling that of Betelgeuse. In other cases, efficient rotationally induced mixing leads to slower surface rotation. This pioneering study aims to model stellar mergers across critical timescales, encompassing dynamical, thermal, and nuclear evolutionary stages.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

General-relativistic Resistive Magnetohydrodynamics with Robust Primitive-variable Recovery for Accretion Disk Simulations

Recent advances in black hole astrophysics, particularly the first visual evidence of a supermassive black holeat the center of the galaxy M87 by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), and the detection of an orbiting “hot spot”nearby the event horizon of Sgr A* in the Galactic center by the Gravity Collaboration, require the developmentof novel numerical methods to understand the underlying plasma microphysics. Non-thermal emission related tosuch hot spots is conjectured to originate from plasmoids that form due to magnetic reconnection in thin currentlayers in the innermost accretion zone. Resistivity plays a crucial role in current sheet formation, magneticreconnection, and plasmoid growth in black hole accretion disks and jets. We included resistivity in the three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) codeBHACand present the implementationof an Implicit-Explicit scheme to treat the stiff resistive source terms of the GRMHD equations. The algorithmis tested in combination with adaptive mesh refinement to resolve the resistive scales and a constrained transportmethod to keep the magnetic field solenoidal. Several novel methods for primitive variable recovery, a key part inrelativistic magnetohydrodynamics codes, are presented and compared for accuracy, robustness, and efficiency.We propose a new inversion strategy that allows for resistive-GRMHD simulations of low gas-to-magneticpressure ratio and highly magnetized regimes as applicable for black hole accretion disks, jets, and neutron starmagnetospheres. We apply the new scheme to study the effect of resistivity on accreting black holes, accountingfor dissipative effects as reconnection

(magnetohydrodynamics:) MHD↗
DOE OSTI2026

thornado+FLASH-X: A Hybrid Discontinuous Galerkin–Implicit-explicit and Finite-volume Framework for Neutrino-radiation Hydrodynamics in Core-collapse Supernovae

We present neutrino-transport algorithms implemented in the toolkit for high-order neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics (thornado) and their coupling to self-gravitating hydrodynamics within the adaptive mesh refinement–based multiphysics simulation framework FLASH-X. thornado, developed primarily for simulations of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), employs a spectral, six-species two-moment formulation with algebraic closure and special-relativistic observer corrections accurate to $\mathcal{O}(v/c)$, and uses discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods for phase-space discretization combined with implicit-explicit time stepping. A key development is a nonlinear neutrino–matter coupling algorithm based on nested fixed-point iteration with Anderson acceleration, enabling fully implicit treatment of collisional processes, including energy-coupling interactions such as neutrino–electron scattering and pair production. Coupling to finite-volume (FV) hydrodynamics is achieved through a hybrid DG-FV representation of the fluid variables and operator-split evolution within FLASH-X. The implementation is verified using basic transport tests with idealized opacities and relaxation and deleptonization problems with tabulated microphysics. Spherically symmetric CCSN simulations demonstrate accuracy and robustness of the coupled scheme, including close agreement with the CCSN simulation code Chimera. An axisymmetric CCSN simulation further demonstrates the viability of DG-based neutrino transport for multidimensional supernova modeling within FLASH-X. thornado’s neutrino-transport solver is GPU-enabled using OpenMP offloading or OpenACC, and all CCSN applications included in this work use the GPU implementation. Together, these results establish a foundation for future enhancements in physics fidelity, numerical algorithms, and computational performance, for increasingly realistic large-scale CCSN simulations.

Endeve, Eirik [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL↗
DOE OSTI2015

LES of Diesel and Gasoline Sprays with Validation against X-Ray Radiography Data

This paper focuses on detailed numerical simulations of direct injection diesel and gasoline sprays from production grade, multi-hole injectors. In a dual-fuel engine the direct injection of both the fuels can facilitate appropriate mixture preparation prior to ignition and combustion. Diesel and gasoline sprays were simulated using high-fidelity Large Eddy Simulations (LES) with the dynamic structure sub-grid scale model. Numerical predictions of liquid penetration, fuel density distribution as well as transverse integrated mass (TIM) at different axial locations versus time were compared against x-ray radiography data obtained from Argonne National Laboratory. A necessary, but often overlooked, criterion of grid-convergence is ensured by using Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) for both diesel and gasoline. Nine different realizations were performed and the effects of random seeds on spray behavior were investigated. Additional parametric studies under different ambient and injection conditions were performed to study their influence on global and local flow structures for gasoline sprays. It is concluded that LES can generally well capture all experimental trends and comes close to matching the x-ray data. Discrepancies between experimental and simulation results can be correlated to uncertainties in boundary and initial conditions such as rate of injection and spray and turbulent dispersion sub-model constants.

Wang, Zihan↗
DOE OSTI2015

Century-scale simulations of the response of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to a warming climate

Abstract. We use the BISICLES adaptive mesh ice sheet model to carry out one, two, and three century simulations of the fast-flowing ice streams of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, deploying sub-kilometer resolution around the grounding line since coarser resolution results in substantial underestimation of the response. Each of the simulations begins with a geometry and velocity close to present-day observations, and evolves according to variation in meteoric ice accumulation rates and oceanic ice shelf melt rates. Future changes in accumulation and melt rates range from no change, through anomalies computed by atmosphere and ocean models driven by the E1 and A1B emissions scenarios, to spatially uniform melt rate anomalies that remove most of the ice shelves over a few centuries. We find that variation in the resulting ice dynamics is dominated by the choice of initial conditions and ice shelf melt rate and mesh resolution, although ice accumulation affects the net change in volume above flotation to a similar degree. Given sufficient melt rates, we compute grounding line retreat over hundreds of kilometers in every major ice stream, but the ocean models do not predict such melt rates outside of the Amundsen Sea Embayment until after 2100. Within the Amundsen Sea Embayment the largest single source of variability is the onset of sustained retreat in Thwaites Glacier, which can triple the rate of eustatic sea level rise.

Cornford, S. L. (ORCID:000000031844274X)↗
DOE OSTI2017

AMReX

AMReX is a software framework for the development and implementation of massively parallel algorithms using block-structured adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). Block-structured AMR provides the basis for the temporal and spatial discretization strategy for a large variety of applications of interest to the DOE. AMReX provides a unified infrastructure with the functionality needed for applications to be able to effectively and efficiently utilize machines from laptops to exascale accelerator-based architectures. AMR reduces the computational cost and memory footprint compared to a uniform mesh while preserving accurate descriptions of different physical processes in complex multi-physics algorithms. AMReX supports algorithms that solve systems of partial differential equations (PDEs) in simple or complex geometries, and those that use particles and/or particle-mesh operations to represent component physical processes.

Zhang, Weiqun↗
NASA NTRS1983

Time-dependent finite-difference simulation of unsteady interactive flows

The solution of the time-dependent, Reynolds-averaged, Navier-Stokes equations for unsteady, interacting flows by finite-difference algorithms is discussed. Specific examples include (1) unsteady transonic flow over a thick biconvex airfoil, (2) determination of buffet boundaries for a transonic lifting airfoil, (3) the simulation of aileron buzz and (4) dynamic stall. Algorithms considered include explicit methods, mixed (or hybrid) methods, and fully implicit methods. Consideration of time scales for computational stability, computational accuracy, and physical accuracy and the use of time-dependent adaptive meshing to realize computational efficiency are also discussed.

Deiwert, G. S.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Adaptive grid methods for partial differential equations

A number of techniques for constructing adaptive mesh generators for use in solving partial differential equations are reviewed in this paper. Techniques reviewed include methods based on steady grid generation schemes and those which are explicitly designed to determine grid speeds in a time-dependent or space-marching problem. Results for candidate methods are included and suggestions for areas of future research are suggested.

Anderson, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

An expanding vortex site for the r-process in rotating stellar collapse

The astrophysical site of r-process nucleosynthesis is investigated theoretically using two-dimensional expanding-vortex stellar-collapse simulations based on the Eulerian adaptive-mesh MHD code of Symbalisty (1984). The results are presented graphically, and it is found that the classical r-process can be explained as the result of the collapse of the highly rotating iron core of a 15-solar-mass star, in which the angular velocity along the rotation axis reaches a maximum of 1000 rad/s, corresponding to an angular momentum of 3.4 x 10 to the 48th erg/s for the inner 1.5 solar mass. The ejected jets are shown to yield about 0.0004 solar mass per supernova, sufficient to explain the observed abundances of r-process products.

Symbalisty, E. M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Refined numerical solution of the transonic flow past a wedge

A numerical procedure combining the ideas of solving a modified difference equation and of adaptive mesh refinement is introduced. The numerical solution on a fixed grid is improved by using better approximations of the truncation error computed from local subdomain grid refinements. This technique is used to obtain refined solutions of steady, inviscid, transonic flow past a wedge. The effects of truncation error on the pressure distribution, wave drag, sonic line, and shock position are investigated. By comparing the pressure drag on the wedge and wave drag due to the shocks, a supersonic-to-supersonic shock originating from the wedge shoulder is confirmed.

Liang, S.-M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

An adaptive finite element procedure for compressible high speed flows

A practical finite element-based solution procedure for high-speed inviscid compressible flow problems is described. The method provides time-accurate solutions to the coompressible Euler equations, and is computationally more efficient than the one-step Taylor-Galerkin approach and better suited for implementation on the modern generation of vector computers. The method is coupled to an adaptive mesh refinement process that enables steady state solutions of improved quality to be obtained.

Loehner, R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Vectorizable algorithms for adaptive schemes for rapid analysis of SSME flows

An initial study into vectorizable algorithms for use in adaptive schemes for various types of boundary value problems is described. The focus is on two key aspects of adaptive computational methods which are crucial in the use of such methods (for complex flow simulations such as those in the Space Shuttle Main Engine): the adaptive scheme itself and the applicability of element-by-element matrix computations in a vectorizable format for rapid calculations in adaptive mesh procedures.

Oden, J. Tinsley↗
NASA NTRS1985

Recent developments in FEM-CFD

The current status of CFD with regard to unstructured grids employing finite element methods and Eulerian frames is reviewed. Algorithms suitable for the computation of large three-dimensional problems involving flow past arbitrary geometries are developed. Adaptive mesh refinement strategy is reviewed, and domain splitting or local time-stepping are briefly addressed. The development of search algorithms of optimal order, variable time-stepping Jacobi smoothers for elliptic problems, and transport concepts for hyperbolics to help achieve good performance for unstructured multigrid processes is discussed. As examples, transient supersonic flow in a channel, regular shock reflection of a wall, viscous flow past a protruberance, potential flow past a cylinder, and Burgers equation are considered.

Loehner, R.↗