blastFEM: Integration of the commercial blastFoam software and the ASCR-funded MFEM Finite Element Libraries

Highly compressible multiphase and reactive flows are important, and manifest across a myriad of practical applications, including: novel energy production and propulsion methods (e.g. RDEs, rockets, nuclear, hydrogen safety), building design, safety and energy efficiency (e.g. blast load requirements, insurance and reinsurance, building material selection), material discovery (e.g. novel energetics), and maintenance of our nuclear arsenal. There are, however, few tools available to industry capable of simulating these flows at a resolution and scale suitable make predictions of adequate detail – at least within reasonable timeframes and budgetary constraints – to inform engineers and designers. A next generation, highly efficient simulation code is needed that can deliver results within useful timeframes (e.g., shorter run times, lower energy usage, economical), with sufficient detail (e.g., high- resolution, flow sufficiently resolved, engineering insight is gained) to be useful to support simulation- driven design, discovery and optimization. Furthermore, a code that has been designed to run on modern and emerging heterogeneous architectures (e.g., multi-node, multi-GPU), and can efficiently leverage these architectures though the use of numerical schemes designed to maximized computational efficiency (e.g., reduce communication between nodes, maximize use of GPU’s or other accelerators). We propose the integration of Synthetik’s commercial blastFoam software and the ASCR-funded MFEM libraries to deliver blastFEM - a GPU-accelerated, very high-performance and energy-efficient solver for highly compressible flows, including high-explosive detonation and airblast. During Phase I, Synthetik will: (1) build a GPU-accelerated compressible flow solver based on MFEM and (2) carry out preliminary feasibility studies to characterize solver performance and energy efficiency to compare with blastFoam CPU benchmarks. The impact of the work proposed herein would be substantial and provide a cross-cutting, step change in capability for American researchers, engineers, academics and scientists. Furthermore, we are proposing a highly innovative and immediately commercially viable product; and are proposing a to contribute back to the MFEM project a foundational application that other researchers and scientists can customize and use to study related phenomena of interest (e.g., compressible multiphase reactive and detonating flows). This will allow us to both exploit our unique position in the market as leaders in physics-based modeling and simulation of solid-state detonation, propellants, and airblast, while further enhancing the impact of this project by enabling others to more readily access and leverage the powerful MFEM project.