Fast, Grid-Free Software for The Calculation of Energy-Related Turbulent Flows

69 Fast, Grid-Free Software for The Calculation of Energy-Related Turbulent Flows--Krispin Technologies, Inc., 14 Freas Court, , North Potomac, MD 20878-2586; (301) 762-5553 Dr. Jacob Krispin, Principal Investigator Dr. Jacob Krispin, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER82413 Amount: $75,000 A broad range of problems in energy engineering require the prediction of forces, heat transfer rates and other properties in high Reynolds number turbulent flows in complex geometries. An important class of such flows occurs in the automotive industry where drag forces and cross-wind stability are of concern in the design of automotive shapes. Although Computational Fluid Dynamics has been used with some success, the greatest unrealized potential benefit is rapid feedback on drag and stability while concepts are being considered during the computer-aided design process. The development of such a capability is the primary goal of this project. Phase I will focus on achieving dramatic improvements through devising new parallel algorithms for the rapid determination of velocities computed using the Fast Multipole Method. During Phase II the focus will be on developing commercial software enabling engineering design calculations encountered in the design of low drag, aerodynamically stable ground vehicles. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The proposed technology and software may be utilized in numerous applications, varying from automotive configuration design, analysis of cross-flow and wake effects on vehicles, to general aviation issues. Small improvements in the design of such systems could lead to enormous savings in operational costs.