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At least 973 records · Page 54

A scalable compressible volume of fluid solver using a stratified flow model

Here, in this paper, a Volume of Fluid method which uses a Stratified Flow model for flux calculation is proposed to solve a compressible multiphase flow in a way that has high parallel efficiency. The solver is part of an open-source computing tool to study fuel entrainment and combustion in the application of paraffin-based hybrid rocket motors. This paper focuses on the compressible Volume of Fluid solver for the liquid and gaseous phases in this environment. This solver uses perfect gas and stiffened gas models for equation of state, with the ability to easily add other models as desired. Additionally a comparison of a Riemann solver versus an AUSM+up scheme is conducted, showing improvement with the later in the solution of multiphase flows. This solver successfully reproduces shock tube cases with the expected accuracy, as well as simulating two-dimensional shear and gravity-driven flows. Results also show that the code is able to utilize a Stratified Flow model to evaluate shear flow without the need for interface reconstruction or gradient calculations. Finally, it is shown that the solver has near-ideal scaling under strong scaling tests as well as good performance in static scaling, giving improved performance over current options and implying future advancement of high-performance computing efficiency for multiphase flow solvers.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Concurrent implicit spectral deferred correction scheme for low-Mach number combustion with detailed chemistry

We present a parallel multi-implicit time integration scheme for the advection-diffusion-reaction systems arising from the equations governing low-Mach number combustion with complex chemistry. Here, our strategy employs parallelisation across the method to accelerate the serial Multi-Implicit Spectral Deferred Correction (MISDC) scheme used to couple the advection, diffusion, and reaction processes. In our approach, the diffusion solves and the reaction solves are performed concurrently by different processors. Our analysis shows that the proposed parallel scheme is stable for stiff problems and that the sweeps converge to the fixed-point solution at a faster rate than with serial MISDC. We present numerical examples to demonstrate that the new algorithm is high-order accurate in time, and achieves a parallel speedup compared to serial MISDC.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Scaled ILU Smoothers for Navier-Stokes Pressure Projection

Incomplete LU (ILU) smoothers are effective in the algebraic multigrid (AMG) V-cycle for reducing high-frequency components of the error. However, the requisite direct triangular solves are comparatively slow on GPUs. Previous work has demonstrated the advantages of Jacobi iteration as an alternative to direct solution of these systems. Depending on the threshold and fill-level parameters chosen, the factors can be highly nonnormal and Jacobi is unlikely to converge in a low number of iterations. We demonstrate that row scaling can reduce the departure from normality, allowing us to replace the inherently sequential solve with a rapidly converging Richardson iteration. There are several advantages beyond the lower compute time. Scaling is performed locally for a diagonal block of the global matrix because it is applied directly to the factor. Further, an ILUT Schur complement smoother maintains a constant GMRES iteration count as the number of MPI ranks increases, and thus parallel strong-scaling is improved. Our algorithms have been incorporated into hypre, and we demonstrate improved time to solution for linear systems arising in the Nalu-Wind and PeleLM pressure solvers. For large problem sizes, GMRES+AMG executes at least five times faster when using iterative triangular solves compared with direct solves on massively parallel GPUs.

algebraic multigrid↗

DeepHyper: A Python Package for Massively Parallel Hyperparameter Optimization in Machine Learning

Machine learning models are increasingly applied across scientific disciplines, yet their effectiveness often hinges on heuristic decisions—such as data transformations, training strategies, and model architectures—that are not learned by the models themselves. Automating the selection of these heuristics and analyzing their sensitivity is crucial for building robust and efficient learning workflows. DeepHyper addresses this challenge by democratizing hyperparameter optimization, providing accessible tools to streamline and enhance machine learning workflows from a laptop to the largest supercomputer in the world. Building on top of hyperparameter optimization, it unlocks new capabilities around ensembles of models for improved accuracy and uncertainty quantification. All of these organized around efficient parallel computing.

ensemble↗

Prototypes of self-powered radiation detectors employing intrinsic high-energy current

Purpose: The authors experimentally investigate the effect of direct energy conversion of x-rays via selfpowered Auger- and photocurrent, potentially suitable to practical radiation detection and dosimetry in medical applications. Experimental results are compared to computational predictions. The detector the authors consider is a thin-film multilayer device, composed of alternating disparate electrically conductive and insulating layers. This paper focuses on the experiments while a companion paper introduces the fundamental concepts of high-energy current (HEC) detectors. Methods: The energy of ionizing radiation is directly converted to detector signal via electric current induced by high-energy secondary electrons generated in the detector material by the incident primary radiation. The HEC electrons also ionize the dielectric and the resultant charge carriers are selfcollected due to the contact potential of the disparate electrodes. Thus, an electric current is induced in the conductors in two different ways without the need for externally applied bias voltage or amplification. Thus, generated signal in turn is digitized by a data acquisition system. To determine the fundamental properties of the HEC detector and to demonstrate its feasibility for medical applications, the authors used a planar geometry composed of multilayer microstructures. Various detectors with up to seven conducting layers with different combinations of materials (250 μm Al, 35 μm Cu, 100 μm Pb) and air gaps (100 μm) were exposed to nearly plane-parallel 60–120 kVp x-ray beams. For the experimental design and verification, the authors performed coupled electron–photon radiation transport computations. The detector signal was measured using a commercial data acquisition system with 24 bits dynamic range, 0.4 fC sensitivity, and 0.9 ms sampling time. Results: Measured signals for the prototype detector varied depending on the number of layers, material type, and incident photon energy, and it was in the range of 30–150 nA/cm{sup 2} for unit air kerma (1 Gy), which is viable for practical applications. The experiments had an excellent agreement with the computations. Within the examined range of 60–120 kVp, the energy dependence of the HEC (normalized to the x-ray tube output) was relatively small. Conclusions: Based on the experimental results for 100 ms sampling time, it would be possible to measure the time dependence of x-ray beams for x-ray tube current of 0.1 mA or higher. Significant advantages of the HEC device are that generation of its signal does not require external power supply, it can be made in any size and shape, including flexible curvilinear forms, and it is inexpensive. It remains to be determined, which of the potential applications in medical dosimetry (both in vivo and external), or radiation protection would benefit from such selfpowered detectors.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Highly interactive, steered scientific workflows on HPC systems: optimizing design solutions

Scientific workflows are becoming increasingly important in high performance computing (HPC) settings, as the feasibility and appeal of many simultaneous heterogeneous tasks increases with increasing hardware capabilities. Currently no HPC-based workflow platform supports a dynamically adaptable workflow with interactive steering and analysis at run-time. Furthermore, for most workflow programs, compute resources are fixed for a given instance, resulting in a possible waste of expensive allocation resources when tasks are spawned and killed. Here we describe the design and testing of a run-time-interactive, adaptable, steered workflow tool capable of executing thousands of parallel tasks without an MPI programming model, using a database management system to facilitate task management through multiple live connections. We find that on the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility pre-exascale Summit supercomputer it is possible to launch and interactively steer workflows with thousands of simultaneous tasks with negligible latency. For the case of particle simulation and analysis tasks that run for minutes to hours, this paradigm offers the prospect of a robust and efficient means to perform simulation-space exploration with on-the-fly analysis and adaptation.

Ossyra, John R↗

Scalable Static and Dynamic Community Detection Using Grappolo

Graph clustering, popularly known as community detection, is a fundamental kernel for several applications of relevance to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Hierarchical Identify Verify Exploit (HIVE) Pro- gram. Clusters or communities represent natural divisions within a network that are densely connected within a cluster and sparsely connected to the rest of the network. The need to compute clustering on large scale data necessitates the development of efficient algorithms that can exploit modern architectures that are fundamentally parallel in nature. How- ever, due to their irregular and inherently sequential nature, many of the current algorithms for community detection are challenging to parallelize. In response to the HIVE Graph Challenge, we present several parallelization heuristics for fast community detection using the Louvain method as the serial template. We implement all the heuristics in a software library called Grappolo. Using the inputs from the HIVE Challenge, we demonstrate superior performance and high quality solutions based on four parallelization heuristics. We use Grappolo on static graphs as the first step towards community detection on streaming graphs.

Community Detection↗

Visualizing an Exascale Data Center Digital Twin: Considerations, Challenges and Opportunities

Digital twins are an excellent tool to model, visualize, and simulate complex systems, to understand and optimize their operation. In this work, we present the technical challenges of real-time visualization of a digital twin of the Frontier supercomputer.We show the initial prototype and current state of the twin and highlight technical design challenges of visualizing such a large High Performance Computing (HPC) system. The goal is to understand the use of augmented reality as a primary way to extract information and collaborate on digital twins of complex systems. This leverages the spatio-temporal aspect of a 3D representation of a digital twin, with the ability to view historical and real-time telemetry, triggering simulations of a system state and viewing the results, which can be augmented via dashboards for details. Finally, we discuss considerations and opportunities for augmented reality of digital twins of large-scale, parallel computers.

Maiterth, Matthias↗

All-Atom Simulation of 3D Hot Spot Formation in Shocked TATB Explosive

TATB is an insensitive high explosive (IHE) critical to the stockpile that is challenging to model at the continuum scale. Advanced detonation models in the Cheetah high explosive chemistry code require validation though subscale simulations. High explosive initiation is determined by micron-scale physics of hot spots formed a shock-collapsed pores. Pore sizes between 100 nm and 1 μm are believed to be the most important for determining the shock sensitivity of TATB. This range of pore sizes is difficult to access at the atomic scale through allatom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, even with Sierra-class computers. Quasi-2D simulations are widely used and allow much larger pore sizes (up to 400 nm) to be studied, but the applicability of 2D simulations to the actual 3D pore response is not understood. Resolving these uncertainties through “full physics” MD modeling is key for generalizing, parameterizing, and validating the kinds of continuum models used to inform design, safety, and performance. This work was a continuation of FY20 efforts pushing simulations to full 3D with the largest-ever all-atom simulations of an explosive. These were the first all-atom full-3D simulations of large hot spots thought to govern explosive detonation and required over a billion atoms. Simulations were performed using LAMMPS, an open SNL science code. MD explosive models present unique challenges, even for established codes such as LAMMPS. Their model forms are more complex than typical models for metals, while simulating high temperature-pressure conditions is demanding and increases computational cost. Scaling problems in GPU-enabled MD algorithms initially limited simulations to <100 million atoms but were resolved through collaboration with SNL. An overall 24x speedup was obtained relative to CPU machines. Specialized analysis of these simulations required a bottom-up refactoring and algorithm parallelization of in-house codes and application of computer vision algorithms to extract meaningful information.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High-order, linearly stable, partitioned solvers for general multiphysics problems based on implicit–explicit Runge–Kutta schemes

This work introduces a general framework for constructing high-order, linearly stable, partitioned solvers for multiphysics problems from a monolithic implicit–explicit Runge–Kutta (IMEX-RK) discretization of the semi-discrete equations. The generic multiphysics problem is modeled as a system of n systems of partial differential equations where the i th subsystem is coupled to the other subsystems through a coupling term that can depend on the state of all the other subsystems. This coupled system of partial differential equations reduces to a coupled system of ordinary differential equations via the method of lines where an appropriate spatial discretization is applied to each subsystem. The coupled system of ordinary differential equations is taken as a monolithic system and discretized using an IMEX-RK discretization with a specific implicit–explicit decomposition that introduces the concept of a predictor for the coupling term. We propose four coupling predictors that enable the monolithic system to be solved in a partitioned manner, i.e., subsystem-by-subsystem, and preserve the IMEX-RK structure and therefore the design order of accuracy of the monolithic scheme. The four partitioned solvers that result from these predictors are high-order accurate, allow for maximum re-use of existing single-physics software, and two of the four solvers allow the subsystems to be solved in parallel at a given stage and time step. We also analyze the stability of a coupled, linear model problem with a specific coupling structure and show that one of the partitioned solvers achieves unconditional linear stability for this problem, while the others are unconditionally stable only for certain values of the coupling strength. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed partitioned solvers on several classes of multiphysics problems including a simple linear system of ODEs, advection–diffusion–reaction systems, fluid–structure interaction problems, and particle-laden flows, where we verify the design order of the IMEX schemes and study various stability properties.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Prediction and uncertainty quantification of shale well performance using multifidelity Monte Carlo

Uncertainty quantification is an integral component of reservoir management, especially considering the inherent uncertainty in subsurface systems. While a standard practice to estimate the uncertainty, Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is computationally intense when the sampling population comprises high-fidelity simulations. Alternatively, the Multi-fidelity Monte Carlo (MFMC) simulation overcomes this computational intensity by integrating low- and high-fidelity simulations. Our goal is to minimize the number of expensive high-fidelity simulations while maintaining accuracy and using numerous fast and cheap low-fidelity simulations to efficiently sample to input parameter space of interest. We selected gas production from unconventional wells to demonstrate the potential speedups and accuracy of the MFMC approach. The model fidelity usually determines the trade-off between accuracy and efficiency. While the high-fidelity model is more accurate, the low-fidelity model is more efficient. Our high-fidelity simulation includes reservoir simulations of a hydraulically fractured well. On the other hand, our low-fidelity model comprises the parallel-plate flow model. We used differential programming to efficiently solve the 1D flow model, where automatic differentiation is used to efficiently compute the gradients. We matched the production profile of high-fidelity simulations with our low-fidelity simulations. Then, we used a support vector regression to map the high- and low-fidelity input parameters. The mapping function is essential to tune the low-dimensional parameter space of the low-fidelity model to the high-dimensional parameter space of the high-fidelity model. We found that we can use a combination of 9 high fidelity and 10,000 low fidelity simulations to efficiently and accurately simulate pressure management. This method is at least two orders of magnitude faster than only using high-fidelity simulations. Finally, from a broader perspective, MFMC could efficiently estimate the uncertainty of various systems and models, integrating low- and high-fidelity models.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗

Multi-threaded Geant4 on the Xeon-Phi with complex high-energy physics geometry

To study the performance of multi-threaded Geant4 for high-energy physics experiments, an application has been developed which generalizes and extends previous work. Here, a highly-complex detector geometry is used for benchmarking on an Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. Additonally, an implementation of parallel I/O based on Intel SCIF and ROOT technologies is incorporated and studied.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Transient cycling of nitrogen, organic carbon and oxygen within the free-flowing Columbia River corridor: Linking exposure time dependent biogeochemical reactions to river stage fluctuations (Final project report)

The objective of this project was to develop next-generation techniques for representing the transformations of complex reaction networks like those impacting transient river-corridors, then apply them to develop upscaling tools. The project contributed significantly to the development of Lagrangian “mass transfer particle tracking” (MTPT) tools that are the first numerical framework that explicitly separates mixing and spreading processes; a crucial distinction for accurate representations of reaction rates across scales. The MTPT approach uses an operator splitting scheme where physical transport processes are simulated using classical random walk methods and each particle is treated as a “container” that carries with it any number of chemical species. Mixing between particles is simulated using a colocation-probability based mass transfer kernel and reactions are evaluated on each particle after mixing. The method is stable, accurate, and also allows the explicit modeling of residence time distributions of the individual containers of mass. The MTPT scheme allowed us to explore several research questions related to reactive transport in river corridors and complex reaction networks. We found that it is possible to quantify the exposure time distributions (ETDs) of reactants and that this does suggest some pathways to upscaling. However, comparable approximations can be obtained using simplified (reduced dimensionality) MTPT simulations in less time with similar uncertainty, so development of extensive ETD-based methods was not productive. The major findings are that i) the MTPT schemes are robust and highly accurate across a range of arbitrarily complex reactions, ii) the methods can be efficiently parallelized and the parallel performance characteristics of MTPT are predictable, and iii) the MTPT tools allow simultaneous tracking of residence time. The development of these research tools into efficient software packages continues. The methods are already available to the community because open-source, working examples have been included with all publications.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Influence of flowability, casting time and formwork geometry on fiber orientation and mechanical properties of UHPFRC

In this study, fiber orientation in ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced-concrete (UHPFRC) with different formwork geometry was evaluated using visualization model concrete and via analysis involving 3D visualization based on X-ray computed tomography (CT). Differences in fiber orientation in the height direction were first reviewed. Furthermore, the influence of flowability and casting time on the fiber orientation and mechanical properties of UHPFRC were examined. The results indicated that flowability dictates eventual fiber orientation in parts close to the surfaces of formwork. The use of UHPFRC with superior flowability results in more fibers being oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of slabs in comparison to UHPFRC with inferior flowability. It was also found that flowability and casting time can have strong influences on the mechanical properties of UHPFRC. Residual flexural strength after initial cracking exhibited perfect linear dependence on the effective number of fibers at fracture planes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Toward a 2D Local Implementation of Quantum Low-Density Parity-Check Codes

Geometric locality is an important theoretical and practical factor for quantum low-density parity-check (qLDPC) codes that affects code performance and ease of physical realization. For device architectures restricted to two-dimensional (2D) local gates, naively implementing the high-rate codes suitable for low-overhead fault-tolerant quantum computing incurs prohibitive overhead. In this work, we present an error-correction protocol built on a bilayer architecture that aims to reduce operational overheads when restricted to 2D local gates by measuring some generators less frequently than others. We investigate the family of bivariate-bicycle qLDPC codes and show that they are well suited for a parallel syndrome-measurement scheme using fast routing with local operations and classical communication (LOCC). Through circuit-level simulations, we find that in some parameter regimes, bivariate-bicycle codes implemented with this protocol have logical error rates comparable to the surface code while using fewer physical qubits. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Berthusen, Noah (ORCID:0000000275862786)↗

Fixing Amdahl's Law within the Limits of Accelerated Systems: FALLACY

Closeout report for FALLACY project. The performance of Data Model Convergence Initiative (DMC) applications on parallel machines is far below the limit set by Amdahl’s law. Whether the machine is based on many-core, GPUs, FPGAs, or a heterogeneous combination, usually the most significant bottleneck is accessing data from the memory system. Aligning with DMC’s HW/architecture thrust, this project developed a set of memory-centric tools called ‘MemGaze’ that inform the HW/SW stack about an application’s memory behavior, including data access latency and diagnosing poor data layout and data composition. Our approach uses architectural modeling and analysis of workload data accesses.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Comparative Performance Analysis of Coarse Solvers for Algebraic Multigrid on Multicore and Manycore Architectures

In this paper, we study the performance of a two-level algebraic-multigrid algorithm, with a focus on the impact of the coarse-grid solver on performance. We consider two algorithms for solving the coarse-space systems: the preconditioned conjugate gradient method and a new robust HSS-embedded low-rank sparse-factorization algorithm. Our test data comes from the SPE Comparative Solution Project for oil-reservoir simulations. We contrast the performance of our code on one 12-core socket of a Cray XC30 machine with performance on a 60-core Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. To obtain top performance, we optimized the code to take full advantage of fine-grained parallelism and made it thread-friendly for high thread count. We also developed a bounds-and-bottlenecks performance model of the solver which we used to guide us through the optimization effort, and also carried out performance tuning in the solver’s large parameter space. Finally, as a result, significant speedups were obtained on both machines.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Reduced Free Energy Perturbation/Hamiltonian Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics Method with Unbiased Alchemical Thermodynamic Axis

We report that replica-exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) has been proven to efficiently improve the convergence of free energy perturbation (FEP) calculations involving considerable reorganization of their surrounding. We previously introduced the FEP/(λ,H)-REMD algorithm for ligand binding, in which replicas along the alchemical thermodynamic coupling axis λ were expanded as a series of Hamiltonian boosted replicas along a second axis to form a two-dimensional (2D) replica-exchange exchange map [Jiang, W.; Roux, B., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2010, 6 (9), 2559-2565]. Aiming to achieve a similar performance at a lower computational cost, we propose here a modified version of this algorithm in which only the end-states along the alchemical axis are augmented by boosted replicas. The reduced FEP/(λ,H)-REMD method with one-dimensional (1D) unbiased alchemical thermodynamic coupling axis λ is implemented on the basis of generic multiple copy algorithm (MCA) module of the biomolecular simulation program NAMD. The flexible MCA framework of NAMD enables a user to design customized replica-exchange patterns through Tcl scripting in the context of a highly parallelized simulation program without touching the source code. Two Hamiltonian tempering boosting scheme were examined with the new algorithm: a first one based on potential energy rescaling of a pre-identified “solute”, and a second one via the introduction of flattening torsional free energy barriers. As two illustrative examples with reliable experiment data, the absolute binding free energies of pxylene and n-butylbenzene to the nonpolar cavity of the L99A mutant of T4 lysozyme were calculated. Lastly, the tests demonstrate that the new protocol efficiently enhances the sampling of torsional motions for backbone and side chains around the binding pocket and accelerates the convergence of the free energy computations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗