Novel Accelerator Architectures for Critical DoD Application

Large scale shock physics simulations comprise a critical element of the analysis of the survivability of ships and submarines in response to underwater explosions, subsurface bunker vulnerability to ground shock, and response of buildings and vehicles to airborne explosions. Explicit time-domain finite element methods have proven to be a necessity for the successful simulation of such problems, with the proviso that the software itself be subject to rigorous verification and validation. Capturing multiscale shock physics phenomena in all its detail requires ever increasing resolutions in space and time and therefore, software and hardware methods for these critical DoD applications must be continually pushed to the limits of available technology. Much of the critical validation data is classified, limiting the number of software tools which can reasonably be considered valid for this class of problem. WAI proposes the acceleration of its validated, explicit, time-domain Lagrangian shock physics code FUSE using GPUs. Using a validated, in-house computer code will result in reduced development time and costs. This project will endeavor to deliver shock physics computer codes faster by an order of magnitude, cutting down the time involved in solving practical shock physics from weeks to days.