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At least 1,531 records · Page 85
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Accelerating solidification process simulation for large-sized system of liquid metal atoms using GPU with CUDA

Molecular dynamics simulation is a powerful tool to simulate and analyze complex physical processes and phenomena at atomic characteristic for predicting the natural time-evolution of a system of atoms. Precise simulation of physical processes has strong requirements both in the simulation size and computing timescale. Therefore, finding available computing resources is crucial to accelerate computation. However, a tremendous computational resource (GPGPU) are recently being utilized for general purpose computing due to its high performance of floating-point arithmetic operation, wide memory bandwidth and enhanced programmability. As for the most time-consuming component in MD simulation calculation during the case of studying liquid metal solidification processes, this paper presents a fine-grained spatial decomposition method to accelerate the computation of update of neighbor lists and interaction force calculation by take advantage of modern graphics processors units (GPU), enlarging the scale of the simulation system to a simulation system involving 10 000 000 atoms. In addition, a number of evaluations and tests, ranging from executions on different precision enabled-CUDA versions, over various types of GPU (NVIDIA 480GTX, 580GTX and M2050) to CPU clusters with different number of CPU cores are discussed. The experimental results demonstrate that GPU-based calculations are typically 9∼11 times faster than the corresponding sequential execution and approximately 1.5∼2 times faster than 16 CPU cores clusters implementations. On the basis of the simulated results, the comparisons between the theoretical results and the experimental ones are executed, and the good agreement between the two and more complete and larger cluster structures in the actual macroscopic materials are observed. Moreover, different nucleation and evolution mechanism of nano-clusters and nano-crystals formed in the processes of metal solidification is observed with large-sized system.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Impacts of Stochastic Mixing in Idealized Convection-Permitting Simulations of Squall Lines

This study investigates impacts of altering subgrid-scale mixing in “convection-permitting” kilometer-scale horizontal-grid-spacing (Δ h ) simulations by applying either constant or stochastic multiplicative factors to the horizontal mixing coefficients within the Weather Research and Forecasting Model. In quasi-idealized 1-km Δ h simulations of two observationally based squall-line cases, constant enhanced mixing produces larger updraft cores that are more dilute at upper levels, weakens the cold pool, rear-inflow jet, and front-to-rear flow of the squall line, and degrades the model’s effective resolution. Reducing mixing by a constant multiplicative factor has the opposite effect on all metrics. Completely turning off parameterized horizontal mixing produces bulk updraft statistics and squall-line mesoscale structure closest to an LES “benchmark” among all 1-km simulations, although the updraft cores are too undilute. The stochastic mixing scheme, which applies a multiplicative factor to the mixing coefficients that varies stochastically in time and space, is employed at 0.5-, 1-, and 2-km Δ h . It generally reduces midlevel vertical velocities and enhances upper-level vertical velocities compared to simulations using the standard mixing scheme, with more substantial impacts at 1- and 2-km Δ h compared to 0.5-km Δ h . Further, the stochastic scheme also increases updraft dilution to better agree with the LES for one case, but has less impact on the other case. Stochastic mixing acts to weaken the cold pool but without a significant impact on squall-line propagation. It also does not affect the model’s overall effective resolution unlike applying constant multiplicative factors to the mixing coefficients.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

Non-local equilibrium two-phase flow model with phase change in porous media and its application to reflooding of a severely damaged reactor core

A generalized non local-equilibrium, three-equation model was developed for the macroscopic description of two-phase flow heat and mass transfer in porous media subjected to phase change. Six pore-scale closure problems were proposed to determine all the effective transport coefficients for representative unit cells. An improved model is presented in this paper with the perspective of application to intense boiling phenomena. The objective of this paper is to present application of this model to the simulation of reflooding of severely damaged nuclear reactor cores. In case of accident at a nuclear power plant, water sources may not be available for a long period of time and the core heats up due to the residual power. Any attempt to inject water during core degradation can lead to quenching and further fragmentation of the core material. The fragmentation of fuel rods and melting of reactor core materials may result in the formation of a {sup d}ebris bed{sup .} The typical particle size in a debris bed might reach few millimeters (characteristic length-scale: 1 to 5 mm), which corresponds to a high permeability porous medium. The proposed two-phase flow model is implemented in the ICARECATHARE code, developed by IRSN to study severe accident scenarios in pressurized water reactors. Currently, the French IRSN has set up two experimental facilities to study debris bed reflooding, PEARL and PRELUDE, with the objective to validate safety models. The PRELUDE program studies the complex two phase flow of water and steam in a porous medium (diameter 180 mm, height 200 mm), initially heated to a high temperature (400 deg. C or 700 deg. C). The series of PRELUDE experiments achieved in 2010 constitute a significant complement to the database of high temperature bottom reflood experimental data. They provide relevant data to understand the progression of the quench front and the intensity of heat transfer. Modeling accurately these experiments required improvements to the reflooding model, especially in terms of the existence of various saturation regimes. The improved two-phase flow model shows a good agreement with PRELUDE experimental results.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

MEUMAPPS (C++ Version)

Many materials, metal alloys in particular, have features on the on micrometer or nanometer scale that have a large impact on the properties of the material. These features are known as the microstructure of the material. Understanding why and how the microstructure forms in a material is of fundamental scientific interest as well as of significant technological interest. The capability to predict microstructure evolution in a material allows the intentional design of microstructures and hence the intentional design of material properties. The phase-field method is one of the leading methods for predicting microstructure evolution. One of the most significant problems for phase-field models is their computational expense. Even limited phase-field simulations can easily require thousands of CPU core-hours to complete, which significantly limits their use. This code provides both a general framework for creating scalable, GPU-accelerated phase-field model applications as well as several applications themselves. The code is capable of using hundreds of GPUs efficiently, which greatly reduces the time required to perform simulations. The code is written with an emphasis on performance portability, that is the ability for the code to run efficiently on a number of different computing architectures without modification of the source code. The performance portability of this code is primarily enabled through the use of two libraries, Kokkos (performance portable data structures and execution patterns) and heFFTe (performance portable distributed 3D fast Fourier transforms). The code consists of a core library, applications, and tests. The core library includes shared functionality between applications. This includes interfaces with fast Fourier transform (FFT) libraries such as heFFTe, data structures based on Kokkos, file input and output capabilities, and a solver for infinitesimal strain mechanical equilibrium problems. Five applications are included in the code. The flagship application is the MEUMAPPS-SS application, which implements the Kim-Kim-Suzuki phase-field model for precipitation for an arbitrary number of phases and components in a metal alloy. Five simpler applications are also included that solve the Eshelby inclusion problem, Allen-Cahn equation, the coupled Allen-Cahn and diffusion equations, and the Cahn-Hilliard equation. The code includes two applications to solve the Cahn-Hilliard equation, one with constant-step-size first-order time integration and the second with adaptive high-order time integration.

DeWitt, Stephen [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), O↗
DOE OSTI2024

On the Geometry of the Near-core Magnetic Field in Massive Stars

It is well-known that the cores of massive stars sustain a stellar dynamo with a complex magnetic field configuration. However, the same cannot be said for the field's strength and geometry at the convective–radiative boundary, which are crucial when performing asteroseismic inference. In this Letter, we present 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of a 7 M ⊙ mid-main-sequence star, with particular attention given to the convective–radiative boundary in the near-core region. Our simulations reveal that the toroidal magnetic field is significantly stronger than the poloidal field in this region, contrary to recent assumptions. Moreover, the rotational shear layer, also important for asteroseismic inference, is specifically confined within the extent of the Brunt–Väisälä frequency peak. These results, which are based on the inferred properties of HD 43317, have widespread implications for asteroseismic studies of rotation, mixing, and magnetism in stars. While we expect our results to be broadly applicable across stars with similar Brunt–Väisälä frequency profiles and stellar masses, we also expect the MHD parameters (e.g., Re m ) and the initial stellar rotation rate to impact the geometry of the field and differential rotation at the convective–radiative interface.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Characterizing turbulent transport in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode plasmas via nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations

The nature and level of turbulent transport in the outer core of low-confinement (L-mode) discharges performed at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak [Kallenbach et al., Nucl. Fusion 51, 094012 (2011)] are examined. Previously, it was found that for an L-mode discharge of the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon and L. G. Davis, Fusion Technol. 8, 441 (1985)] gyrokinetic simulations were unable to reproduce the experimental ion heat flux, underestimating it by almost an order of magnitude. In the present work, employing the GENE gyrokinetic turbulence code, an extensive nonlinear study is performed for L-mode discharges of ASDEX Upgrade in order to cross-check this observation. It is shown that no systematic underprediction can be found in these simulations—instead, discrepancies with respect to experimental transport levels are small enough to be resolved within the uncertainties of the experimental profiles. Moreover, it is shown that some turbulence properties resemble closely those of the underlying linear microinstabilities at least out to 90% of the minor radius, so that quasilinear transport models remain, in principle, applicable even for these parameters, provided that appropriate nonlinear saturation rules can be developed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Modeling active galactic nucleus feedback in cool-core clusters: The formation of cold clumps

We perform high-resolution (15-30 pc) adaptive mesh simulations to study the impact of momentum-driven active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback in cool-core clusters, focusing in this paper on the formation of cold clumps. The feedback is jet-driven with an energy determined by the amount of cold gas within 500 pc of the super-massive black hole. When the intracluster medium in the core of the cluster becomes marginally stable to radiative cooling, with the thermal instability to the free-fall timescale ratio t{sub TI}/t{sub ff} < 3-10, cold clumps of gas start to form along the propagation direction of the AGN jets. By tracing the particles in the simulations, we find that these cold clumps originate from low entropy (but still hot) gas that is accelerated by the jet to outward radial velocities of a few hundred km s{sup –1}. This gas is out of hydrostatic equilibrium and so can cool. The clumps then grow larger as they decelerate and fall toward the center of the cluster, eventually being accreted onto the super-massive black hole. The general morphology, spatial distribution, and estimated Hα morphology of the clumps are in reasonable agreement with observations, although we do not fully replicate the filamentary morphology of the clumps seen in the observations, probably due to missing physics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

The formation of cores of giant planets at convergence zones of planetary migration

The formation of solid cores in giant planets of mass ∼10 M{sub ⊕} is numerically simulated following the scenario of Sándor et al. In this scenario, there are two convergence zones, corresponding to the outer and inner edges of the dead zone, where the torque exerted on planetary embryos by the gas nebula is zero. At the outer edge of the dead zone, anticyclonic vortices accumulate infalling dust aggregates, and planetary embryos are continuously formed in this scenario. We performed N-body simulations and show that massive objects of ≃10 M{sub ⊕} are formed in ∼2.5 Myr, starting from the embryos. The largest object is formed at the inner convergence zone, although planetary embryos are placed at the outer convergence zone. This is due to the scattering of embryos from the outer to the inner convergence zone, and the shorter damping timescale of eccentricity at the inner convergence zone compared to the outer one. We varied the migration timescale due to the torque from gas by changing the gas surface density around the convergence zones. We found that there is a critical migration timescale below which 10 M{sub ⊕}-sized objects are formed. Furthermore, we conducted simulations in which the gas surface density evolves according to viscous accretion. The largest object is also formed at the inner convergence zone irrespective of the strength of turbulence. Throughout the simulations, the location of the largest mass is the inner convergence zone. We confirmed that the formation timescale of a core of a Jovian planet can be explained in this scenario.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Calculated analysis of experiments in fast neutron reactors

In this paper, the results of computational simulation of experiments with the MK-I core of the JOYO fast neutron sodium-cooled reactor are presented. The MCU-KS code based on the Monte Carlo method was used for calculations. The research was aimed at additional verification of the MCU-KS code for systems with a fast neutron spectrum.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Challenges in the development of high-fidelity LWR core neutronics tools

Modern computing has made possible the solution of extremely large-scale reactor simulations, and the literature has numerous examples of high-resolution methods (often Monte Carlo) applied to full-core reactor problems. However, there are currently no examples in the literature of application of such 'High-Fidelity' or 'First Principles' methods to operating Light Water Reactor (LWR) analysis. This paper seeks to remind code developers, project managers, and analysts of the many important aspects of LWR simulation that must be incorporated to produce truly high-fidelity analysis tools. The authors offer a monetary prize to the first person (or group) that successfully solves a new two-cycle operational PWR depletion benchmark problem using high-fidelity tools and demonstrates acceptable accuracy by comparison with measured operational plant data (open source) provided to the reactor analysis community. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Migration and growth of protoplanetary embryos. I. Convergence of embryos in protoplanetary disks

According to the core accretion scenario, planets form in protostellar disks through the condensation of dust, coagulation of planetesimals, and emergence of protoplanetary embryos. At a few AU in a minimum mass nebula, embryos' growth is quenched by dynamical isolation due to the depletion of planetesimals in their feeding zone. However, embryos with masses (M{sub p} ) in the range of a few Earth masses (M {sub ⊕}) migrate toward a transition radius between the inner viscously heated and outer irradiated regions of their natal disk. Their limiting isolation mass increases with the planetesimals surface density. When M{sub p} > 10 M {sub ⊕}, embryos efficiently accrete gas and evolve into cores of gas giants. We use a numerical simulation to show that despite stream line interference, convergent embryos essentially retain the strength of non-interacting embryos' Lindblad and corotation torques by their natal disks. In disks with modest surface density (or equivalently accretion rates), embryos capture each other in their mutual mean motion resonances and form a convoy of super-Earths. In more massive disks, they could overcome these resonant barriers to undergo repeated close encounters, including cohesive collisions that enable the formation of massive cores.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

CaptureFOAM

CaptureFOAM provides utilities for fast and accurate direct air capture (DAC) contactor simulations, based on the OpenFOAM framework. At the core, CaptureFOAM is a suite of mass transfer and chemistry models built upon the OpenFOAM thin film model, which allows coarser mesh resolution and less constrictive time step requirements when compared to a traditional volume of fluid approach. This allows CaptureFOAM to conduct device-scale simulations for complex geometries including commercial packing materials and novel contactor shapes, matching experimental results in a wide variety of applications.

Kincaid, Kellis [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OR↗
DOE OSTI2012

Measurement of plasma current dependent changes in impurity transport and comparison with nonlinear gyrokinetic simulation

Measured impurity transport coefficients are found to demonstrate a strong dependence on plasma current in the core of Alcator C-Mod. These measurements are compared directly with linear and nonlinear gyrokinetic simulation in an attempt to both qualitatively and quantitatively reproduce the measured impurity transport. Discharges constituting a scan of plasma current from 0.6 to 1.2 MA were performed during the 2010 run campaign. The impurity transport from these discharges was determined using a novel set of spectroscopic diagnostics available on Alcator C-Mod. This diagnostic suite allowed for the effective constraint of impurity transport coefficient profiles inside of r/a = 0.6. A decrease in the measured impurity diffusivity and inward convection is found with increased plasma current. Global, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations were performed using the GYRO code [J. Candy and R. E. Waltz, J Comput. Phys. 186, 545 (2003)] for all discharges in the experimental scan and are found to reproduce the experimental trends, while demonstrating good quantitative agreement with measurement. A more comprehensive quantitative comparison was performed on the 0.8 MA discharge of the current scan which demonstrates that simultaneous agreement between experiment and simulation in both the impurity particle transport and ion heat transport channels is attainable within experimental uncertainties.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

On the induced gravitational collapse scenario of gamma-ray bursts associated with supernovae

Following the induced gravitational collapse (IGC) paradigm of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) associated with type Ib/c supernovae, we present numerical simulations of the explosion of a carbon–oxygen (CO) core in a binary system with a neutron-star (NS) companion. The supernova ejecta trigger a hypercritical accretion process onto the NS thanks to a copious neutrino emission and the trapping of photons within the accretion flow. We show that temperatures of 1–10 MeV develop near the NS surface, hence electron–positron annihilation into neutrinos becomes the main cooling channel leading to accretion rates of 10{sup −9}–10{sup −1} M{sub ⊙} s{sup −1} and neutrino luminosities of 10{sup 43}–10{sup 52} erg s{sup −1} (the shorter the orbital period the higher the accretion rate). We estimate the maximum orbital period, P{sub max}, as a function of the NS initial mass, up to which the NS companion can reach by hypercritical accretion the critical mass for gravitational collapse leading to black hole formation. We then estimate the effects of the accreting and orbiting NS companion onto a novel geometry of the supernova ejecta density profile. We present the results of a 1.4×10{sup 7} particle simulation which show that the NS induces accentuated asymmetries in the ejecta density around the orbital plane. We elaborate on the observables associated with the above features of the IGC process. We apply this framework to specific GRBs: we find that X-ray flashes (XRFs) and binary-driven hypernovae are produced in binaries with P>P{sub max} and P<P{sub max}, respectively. We analyze in detail the case of XRF 060218.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2004

High Speed Networking and Large-scale Simulation in Geodynamics

Large-scale numerical simulation has been one of the most important approaches for understanding global geodynamical processes. In this approach, peta-scale floating point operations (pflops) are often required to carry out a single physically-meaningful numerical experiment. For example, to model convective flow in the Earth's core and generation of the geomagnetic field (geodynamo), simulation for one magnetic free-decay time (approximately 15000 years) with a modest resolution of 150 in three spatial dimensions would require approximately 0.2 pflops. If such a numerical model is used to predict geomagnetic secular variation over decades and longer, with e.g. an ensemble Kalman filter assimilation approach, approximately 30 (and perhaps more) independent simulations of similar scales would be needed for one data assimilation analysis. Obviously, such a simulation would require an enormous computing resource that exceeds the capacity of a single facility currently available at our disposal. One solution is to utilize a very fast network (e.g. 10Gb optical networks) and available middleware (e.g. Globus Toolkit) to allocate available but often heterogeneous resources for such large-scale computing efforts. At NASA GSFC, we are experimenting with such an approach by networking several clusters for geomagnetic data assimilation research. We shall present our initial testing results in the meeting.

Kuang, Weijia↗
DOE OSTI2023

Simulation of a rapid compression machine for evaluation of ignition chemistry and soot formation using gasoline/ethanol blends

Due to the projected decline of demand for gasoline in light duty engines and the advent of ethanol as a green fuel, the use of gasoline/ethanol blend fuels in heavy duty applications are being investigated as they are projected to have lower cost and lower lifecycle green house gas (GHG) emissions. In heavy duty engines, the primary mode of combustion is mixing controlled combustion where wide range of mixture conditions (equivalence ratio) exist. Soot emissions of these fuels in richer conditions are not well understood. The goal of this research is to evaluate some commercially available soot modeling codes for the particulate matter emissions from gasoline/ethanol fuel blends, especially at fuel rich conditions. A Rapid Compression Machine (RCM) is modeled in a three-dimensional numerical simulation using CONVERGE computational software using a reduced chemical kinetic mechanism with SAGE chemistry solver and a RANS k-ϵturbulence model with a sector model including the creviced piston. The creviced piston is used in the experimental setup to reduce boundary layer effects and to maintain a homogeneous core in the reaction cylinder. Computational fluid dynamics simulations are conducted for different gasoline-ethanol fuel blends from E10 (10% ethanol v/v) to E100. The fuel blend is modeled as a surrogate mixture of toluene, iso-octane, n-heptane for gasoline content, and ethanol. The computational results were validated against experimental results using pressure measurements and laser extinction diagnostics. Different soot models are investigated to evaluate their capability of predicting the sooting tendencies of fuel blends, especially in richer conditions experienced during mixing-controlled combustion. The experimental combustion characteristics such as the ignition delay of different blends of fuel are reasonably well predicted. The Particulate Size Mimic (PSM) model accurately predicts the soot generation characteristics of the different fuels, but the Hiroyasu-NSC model falls short in this regard. For accurate prediction of soot with the PSM model, the thermodynamic conditions during combustion must be accurately modeled. While the current computational modeling tools can produce accurate results for the prediction of particulate matter emissions, there is much work to be done in improving our understanding of the underlying fundamental processes.

Energy & Fuels↗
DOE OSTI2020

A hybrid porous model for full reactor core scale CFD investigation of a prismatic HTGR

Three-dimensional (3-D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of a whole nuclear reactor core is a tremendous challenge due to the large geometric volume and complex structures. Here, this research presents a hybrid porous (HP) model to simplify a prismatic High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) core, so 3-D CFD investigation can be performed on a full reactor core scale. In the HP model, the prototypic small coolant channels in the nuclear fuel blocks are lumped together to form multiple equivalent large coolant channels, and then the porous medium flow model is applied to each of them. Therefore, heat transfer in fuel blocks is computed by a hybrid combination of solid energy and porous flow energy equations. The similarity between the HP model and prototypic model is achieved by deriving the porous flow permeability, inertial resistance factor, and artificial thermophysical properties. Compared with the widely used whole porous (WP) flow model, the HP model preserves more realistic geometric structures, and therefore more accurate physical processes. The General Atomics' Modular High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (MHTGR) design was chosen as a prototype to demonstrate the methodology. Simulations were performed using the prototypic CFD model and HP model at steady-state forced circulation, steady-state natural circulation, and transient conditions that correspond to normal operation, extended period of pressurized cool down, and short-term transients after reactor shutdown, respectively. The comparison shows good agreement between the HP model and prototypic model in the maximum fuel temperature, average solid temperature, and helium flow rate, which demonstrates the potential applicability of the HP model for a full reactor core scale simulation in the future. As a benefit, the HP model reduces the mesh quantity by a factor of 50 from a prototypic model. Correspondingly, the computation time was reduced by a factor of at least 30.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The accurate particle tracer code

The Accurate Particle Tracer (APT) code is designed for systematic large-scale applications of geometric algorithms for particle dynamical simulations. Based on a large variety of advanced geometric algorithms, APT possesses long-term numerical accuracy and stability, which are critical for solving multi-scale and nonlinear problems. To provide a flexible and convenient I/O interface, the libraries of Lua and Hdf5 are used. Following a three-step procedure, users can efficiently extend the libraries of electromagnetic configurations, external non-electromagnetic forces, particle pushers, and initialization approaches by use of the extendible module. APT has been used in simulations of key physical problems, such as runaway electrons in tokamaks and energetic particles in Van Allen belt. As an important realization, the APT-SW version has been successfully distributed on the world’s fastest computer, the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer, by supporting master–slave architecture of Sunway many-core processors. Here, based on large-scale simulations of a runaway beam under parameters of the ITER tokamak, it is revealed that the magnetic ripple field can disperse the pitch-angle distribution significantly and improve the confinement of energetic runaway beam on the same time.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗