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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology: Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations

Overview | Laboratory Physical Modeling | Laboratory Numerical (CFD) Modeling | Hydraulics Research and Development |
Ongoing Laboratory Activities | Hydraulics Laboratory Personnel | Research Publications | Office of Bridge Technology: Hydraulics

 

 

J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory

 

Laboratory Numerical (CFD) Modeling

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling Work Space

The CFD modeling is conducted using Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Center's (THFRC’s) high-speed Internet-2 connection line to the Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center cluster at the Argonne National Laboratory. The user interface is based on the Linux operating system. The CFD code, STARCCM+, is remotely executed at assigned computational nodes on the cluster. The computational results can then be transferred to local computers in the J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory for further data analysis.

The picture shows the CFD researchers work environment at TFHRC J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory. Three monitors and one desktop computer with a high speed Internet connection to the cluster at the Argonne National Laboratory computer are shown.
CFD researchers work environment at TFHRC J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory.

 

The picture shows several client computers at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. These computers are connected via high speed Internet 2 with server cluster computer at the Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) located at the Argonne National Laboratory.
Several client computers at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.

 

Argonne National Laboratories (ANL) Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center
(http://www.anl.gov/TRACC/)

The FHWA J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory numerical modeling is carried out at the Argonne National Laboratory's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center through remote access and collaboration. TRACC studies computational fluid dynamics-based simulation techniques in highway hydraulics and erosion/sediment transport applications. Engineers compare these simulations to tests conducted at the J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory to develop and validate design formulation.

The TRACC components include high-performance computing, visualization, and networking systems, with 1024-core, customized system from Dell that consists of 128 compute nodes, each with two quad-core AMD 2378 Opteron CPUs and 8 gigabytes of RAM, a DataDirect Networks storage system consisting of 180 terabytes of shared RAID storage, and a high-bandwidth, low-latency InfiniBand network for computations. Available software packages include: ANSYS FLUENT, HyperMesh, LS-DYNA®, LS-OPT®, MADYMO, MATLAB, NoMachine, STAR-CD, STAR-CCM+, STAR-Design, and TRANSIMS.

TRACC supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory. The computation clusters are shown in a few black cabinets. It consists of 1024 cores on 128 compute nodes, a DataDirect Networks storage system, and a high-bandwidth network.
TRACC supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory.

 

The Argonne National Laboratory provides engineers and students with an advanced training course on CFD simulation. Shown in the figure is the instructor sitting in the classroom with onsite participants. Remote participants through videoconferencing are not shown in this picture.
The Argonne National Laboratory provides engineers and students with an advanced training course on CFD simulation.