Development of the Breakthrough CFD VorCat technology for Cloud-Based Complex Energy Applications
U.S. Department of Energy
This project addresses the need for reliable and efficient strategies for simulating the complex turbulent flows produced by next generation energy-related technologies, such as modern ground and air vehicles, flow control devices mounted on modern car and truck configurations that aim at substantial drag force reduction, wind and hydro turbines, among others. Understanding and accurately predicting such complex flow phenomena are essential aspects of modern efforts aimed at reducing energy consumption in existing technologies and in promoting new energy-lean technologies of the future.
The over-arching goal of this SBIR project is to offer Vorcat, Inc.'s breakthrough Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology in an HPC cloud environment so as to extend its current reach and foster adoption. In particular, the cloud app(s) proposed here addresses the problem of advancing current capabilities for designing next generation energy and automotive technologies through developing reliable and efficient means for simulating turbulent flows about complex settings.
The growing availability of Cloud supercomputing allows VorCat to bring its unique accuracy and reliability to a wider range of CFD users, including small and medium-sized businesses for whom large scale computing in CFD has heretofore been too costly or technically difficult to pursue. The benefits of this project to all segments of industry include cost and time savings in developing new products, better engineering, enhanced safety and the exploration of advanced concepts that are too difficult or dangerous to study with physical experiments. The focus is on energy and automotive related flows and applications that Vorcat employs for validation and go-to-market purposes. Development of the Vorcat technology has provided and continues to provide opportunities for engineering students and postdoctoral researchers to engage in the solution of difficult scientific problems. Finally, Vorcat can provide considerable benefit to society both domestically and internationally by helping in the accomplishment of such specific goals as creating more fuel efficient and safer ground and air vehicles and designing strategies for responding to environmental hazards as well as more general goals as in developing and optimizing new energy-related technologies.