STTR Phase II: Parallel Lattice Kinetic Software for High Mach Number Fluid Dynamics

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will produce a novel parallel dynamic rule-based software tool for simulating high Mach number flows of interest for the ground transportation, aerospace and power generation markets. This work couples a multi-disciplinary interplay between algorithm design, modern cluster/grid computer architecture, parallel processing, and software engineering, and employs Lattice-Boltzmann Methods (LBM) with automatically generated grids with up to 100 million computational cells. This new technology will enable virtual design within the ground transportation industry. Secondly, the ability of the parallel lattice kinetic software to address high Mach/Knudsen number problems should open important markets in aerospace, power generation, automotive, and other industries. Additionally, this new technology should establish markets for computer aided engineering (CAE), by numerical simulation of vehicles and powertrain components whose complexity have forced design/optimization using either physical experimentation or semi-empirical rules. The research will help to demonstrate the linkage between fundamental research and industrial applications, and emphasize the importance of non-equilibrium statistical physics methods as a core component in the commercial simulators.