VISUALIZATION

Two scientists from Italy's Politecnico di Milano visited the University of Illinois in early September, conducting a five-day workshop on "Computational Fluid Dynamics: A Virtual Facility for Engineering Analysis" and conducting some research of their own on NCSA's IBM p690 system, known as Copper. The class conducted by Emanuela Colombo and Fabio Inzoli was co-sponsored by NCSA and the University's Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering. The two scientists, both from the Politecnico's Dipartimento di Energetica, covered fundamental and practical aspects of using CFD to solve applied engineering problems. Their 18 students also gained some hands-on experience with a particular CFD code, called FLUENT. Colombo stressed that the focus of the workshop was not simply on the mechanics of using FLUENT; instead the goal was to address the critical issue of how to use CFD wisely to achieve accurate, meaningful results to advance engineering understanding. She said that students need to know more than simply how to plug in numbers so the code will spit out results. Without a broader and deeper understanding of CFD fundamentals and best practices, she said, "you get only colors. Pretty colors, but only colors." In addition to their work with engineering students, Colombo and Inzoli used their visit to Champaign-Urbana to run some test simulations on Copper. Along with UIUC nuclear engineering professor Rizwan Uddin, the two are involved in research related to the IRIS (International Reactor Innovative and Secure) project. The goal of the project—which is being pursued by an international consortium of more than 20 commercial and academic organizations from 10 countries—is the development of a next-generation nuclear reactor that is safer, and more economical, and produces less waste. IRIS is a medium-power light water reactor with a modular, integral primary system configuration. Its simplified compact design places steam generators, pressurizer, and pumps within the primary vessel, a novel and effective safety measure. CFD plays a key role in the IRIS design process as scientists use computers to simulate accident and failure scenarios. During their visit, Colombo and Inzoli ran a test simulation related to the downcomer of the reactor using 16 nodes on Copper. The scientists plan to conduct more calculations on NCSA resources as the IRIS project continues.