Computational Facilities

CFD simulations

The Computational Facilities (CF) within the Aerodynamics Laboratory at NRC Aerospace provide the resources and the tools to perform state-of-the-art modeling and simulation. Using advanced High Performance Computing (HPC) systems and a full suite of complementary software, NRC Aerospace computational fluid dynamics (CFD) practitioners support a wide range of clientele. They also develop new and innovative methods to conduct research in a broad spectrum of computational aerodynamics challenges ranging from turbulence modeling to full vehicle flow simulations.

The CF maintains computing systems in four broad categories: computing power, visualization systems, desktop workstations, and infrastructure. Its HPC resources consist of several Linux PC clusters whose core system is a continually expanding dual Opteron® cluster with over 80 computing nodes, 232 GB of distributed memory and 12 TB of data storage. Internode communications are handled through a combination of Myrinet® and gigabit Ethernet. The CF also supports a dual 16-node Intel Pentium 4® cluster, which is a combination of 2.2 and 2.8 GHz processors, and an 18-node DEC Alpha® 21164 cluster. The Intel cluster is wired with Myrinet and gigabit Ethernet, while the DEC Alpha cluster uses Fast Ethernet as its interconnect. A 32 R12000 CPU SGI Origin 2000 with 16 GB of memory is also available.

Visualization hardware includes several high-end Linux and SGI workstations. In addition, NRC Aerospace has access to virtual reality facilities maintained within the National Research Council.

The CF maintains a range of software tools that enables its researchers to provide exceptional client support and leading-edge research in CFD modeling and simulation. To complement its in-house, state-of-the-art CFD programs, the CF makes available a collection of commercial, freeware and open-source tools that include simulation software, compilers, visualization packages, grid-generation programs and communication libraries.