High Performance Computing for Rotorcraft Structural Dynamics

High fidelity computational analyses using solid-fluid interaction models are becoming an important aspect of rotorcraft analysis and design. The large size of these models (potentially millions of degrees of freedom) makes parallelization necessary for reasonable turn-around times. The fluid models, typically having significantly more degrees of freedom, scale well. The solid models, however, typically do not scale as well and thus can become a computational bottleneck for large and highly parallel analysis of coupled solid-fluid systems. In this SBIR, CFDRC will leverage ongoing research and development in the area of solid-fluid interaction to investigate and develop methods for optimal parallelization of a structural analysis code within a coupled fluid/solid framework. A mature existing solid mechanics computational solver with access to several different types of preconditioners and solvers will be used as the baseline. During Phase I, the capabilities of this solver for rotorcraft structural dynamic predictions will be demonstrated. Additionally, the performance of various preconditioner/solver combinations will be investigated and improvements for optimal performance for solver robustness and scalability will be identified. In Phase II, we will implement and demonstrate the identified improvements and incorporate this structural solver into the RCAS framework to allow large-scale parallel coupled solid/fluid interaction analyses.