HPC Modeling to Aid Accelerator Component Manufacturing

Electromagnetic and particle modeling is an important part of the design and manufacturing of accelerator components, such as electron beam sources and RF accelerating cavities. The premier electromagnetic and particle modeling tools today allow users to exploit parallel computing resources, both distributed memory CPU and multi-threaded GPU. However, these premier parallel modeling tools are too difficult for non-experts to use effectively. The goal of this work is to make it easier for non-experts to learn and integrate the software into the full manufacturing cycle. This proposal will be accomplished through collaboration with Tech-X Corporation, a leading accelerator simulation company. In Phase I we plan four tasks: i) develop an improved interface for performing accelerator design that includes automated parameter scans, ii) develop integrated analysis tools for calculating accelerator components quantities of interest, like Q, R/Q, and others, iii) determine the best hardware (multicore CPU or GPU) for typical accelerator design models, iv) demonstrate integration of this improved HPC modeling tool into the manufacturing design cycle at Niowave. The resulting software tool will be a significant aid to accelerator designers, which will reduce development time and costs. These cost savings are making commercial superconducting accelerators a viable option for many important applications, including novel radioisotope production methods, X-ray sterilization machines, and free electron lasers.