VALIDATION OF EXASCALE DEMONSTRATORS

Call: 21st Open Access Grant Competition
Researcher: Dr Tomáš Karásek

Institution: IT4Innovations, VŠB-TUO
Field: Engineering

The project is part of a three-year ExaQUte project, which develops new methods for solving complex engineering problems using computational simulations on exascale systems. The aim is to construct a framework to enable Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) and Optimization Under Uncertainties (OUU) in complex engineering problems.

Solution of UQ and OUU problems rely on the estimation of unknown quantities by performing many independent simulations on different scenarios. This poses an important challenge as many computational resources are needed to perform these analyses. Nonetheless, the independent sampling allows for high parallelization of the analyses in order to exploit HPC systems.

The methods and tools developed in ExaQUte will be applicable to many fields of science and technology. The application chosen as a demonstrator focuses on wind engineering, a field of notable industrial interest for which currently no reliable solution exists. This will include the quantification of uncertainties in the response of civil engineering structures to the wind action, and the shape optimization taking into account uncertainties related to wind loading, structural shape and material behaviour. Wind also plays an important role in the assessment of citizens comfort, particularly when large constructions are to be made (e.g. re-modelling of city areas, construction of high-rise buildings), becoming this an application of public interest.



INVESTIGATION OF FLUIDIZATION REGIMES IN WURSTER FLUID BED COATER

Call: 15th Open Access Grant Competition
Researcher: Jiří Kolář

Institution: University of Chemistry and Technology
Field: Engineering

The Wurster fluid bed device is widely used in pharmacy for the coating of small pellets. Coating is used to apply layers onto the pellets with various functions. Some layers can consist of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and others can be used to protect the API from decomposing, or prolong the drug effect. However, it is difficult to set the process operating parameters optimally to obtain product of a pharmaceutical quality. Being awarded almost 3 million core hours, the project of Jiří Kolář from the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague is focused on analysis of dependency of fluidization regimes on operating parameters setting in a Wurster fluid bed coater using computationally intensive simulations. Jiří Kolář will then seek to find an optimal simplification of this model, which could have the capacity to speed up the drug design and reduce its costs.



AN OPEN-SOURCE BASED FRAMEWORK FOR CFD-BASED OPTIMIZATION OF ROTARY MACHINES

Call: 14th Open Access Grant Competition
Researcher: Tomáš Krátký

Institution: Palacký University Olomouc
Field: Engineering

 

Tomáš Krátký from Palacký University Olomouc was awarded half a million core hours for the development of a fully automated model for CFD-based rotary machine simulations. Solely based on open source software (OpenFOAM, Python), this brand new model will allow designers to optimize the shapes of rotary machines to achieve their best possible hydraulic performance. They will thus achieve better designs of rotary machines in a shorter time. The new computational approach will be used in pump design, which is expected to outmatch the currently used ones by its performance parameters. Research and development in the field of numerical simulation for shape optimization plays a key role for pump and turbine manufacturers. Drawing the benefits of a faster and cheaper computational approach for hydraulic designs, companies may thus optimize and tailor their products for their customers.



RESEARCH CENTRE FOR LOW-CARBON ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

Call: 13th Open Access Grant Competition
Researcher: Dr Jan Boháček

Institution: Brno University of Technology
Field: Engineering

   

The supercomputing project of Jan Boháček from Brno University of Technology (BUT), who is involved in the fiveyear long project Research centre for low-carbon energy technologies (CVNET, CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000753) supported by the Research, Development and Education Operational Programme, was awarded almost 1 million core hours. The Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Laboratory at BUT has been involved in the development of modern polymeric heat exchangers with hollow fibres for 10 years so far. The advantage of using polymeric hollow fibres in heat exchangers is their flexibility, low costs, and chemical resistance. Polymeric heat exchangers are ideal, for example, for heating, air-conditioning, and low-potential residual heat applications. The allocated computational resources will be used by the group of BUT researchers for development of polymeric heat exchangers, in particular for detailed heat transfer simulations. They will analyse different factors, which affect heat transfer in polymeric hollow microfibers (diameter, lengths, and fibre spacing).



 



INTA

Call: 11th Open Access Grant Competition
Researcher: Dr Petr Vrchota

Institution: The Czech Aerospace Research Centre
Field: Engineering

Design of new regional aircraft and airlines is mainly influenced by economic and environmental factors. Individual parts of airplanes are optimized, for example, with respect to aerodynamic efficiency, fuel consumption, and emissions. Another option for reducing the aerodynamic drag and saving fuel are optimized integrated communication antennas. The antennas usually protrude and contribute to the total drag of the airplane. The IntA project of Dr. Petr Vrchota from the Czech Aerospace Research Centre has been awarded 200,000 core hours. This project focuses on designing a new winglet with an integrated antenna to improve the flight performance and aerodynamic efficiency of the entire aeroplane and reduce fuel consumption as well as negative environmental impacts. The objective of the research project is to reduce the aerodynamic drag of the aeroplane by up to 2 % using the integrated antenna.