Interactive Visualization of Highly Time-Dependent Data from Numerical Simulations of Transitional and Turbulent Supersonic Flows

Abstract

High-performance graphics processing equipment consisting of a Silicon Graphics Origin 3400, 2 Silicon Graphics Octane SSEs, and other peripherals was purchased with funding from DURIP Grant No. DAADl9-OO-1-O1 16. This equipment significantly enhanced our research projects funded by DOD. For these research projects, Direct Numerical Simulations and Large-Eddy Simulations were employed to investigate complex transitional and turbulent flows for a wide range of applications and flow speeds, both subsonic and supersonic. Examples are: supersonic axisymmetric base flows (ARO), actuators for active flow control (AFOSR), control of separation using wall jets (AFOSR), and longitudinal vortices in turbulent boundary layers subjected to wall curvature and strong adverse pressure gradients (ONR). A common objective of these research projects was the physical understanding of the time-dependent dynamical behavior of the dominant turbulent structures. This understanding is essential for successful implementation of active flow control for DOD-relevant applications. The numerical simulations generate vast amounts of data that have to be post-processed in order to extract the essential physical mechanisms that govern the dynamical behavior of the large coherent structures. Turbulent flows characteristically exhibit a complicated time-space behavior, which is due to the dynamics of large coherent structures with a strongly non-periodic time behavior. In order to analyze this complicated spatio-temporal behavior, the flow-field data from the numerical simulations have to be visualized by rapid, interactive, time-dependent, graphics processing. The acquired graphics processing equipment with its flexible, scalable architecture enabled us to perform such interactive visualizations. The requested equipment filled a critical need for fully utilizing the computing power provided by DOD computers and thus for effectively carrying out the proposed research of our DOD grants.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 19, 2001
Accession Number
ADA393481

Entities

People

  • Hermann F. Fasel

Organizations

  • University of Arizona

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Equations Of Motion
  • Flow Fields
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Geometry
  • Hypervelocity Flow
  • Large Eddy Simulation
  • Military Research
  • Pressure Gradients
  • Processing Equipment
  • Reynolds Number
  • Supersonic Flow
  • Turbulent Flow
  • Turbulent Mixing

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Database Systems and Applications
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Research Science/Academic Research

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster