Hyper Flux

Computer simulations of fluid flow are playing an increasingly important role in aerodynamic design of numerous complex
systems, including aircraft, cars, ships and wind turbines. It is becoming apparent, however, that for a wide range of flow
problems current generation software packages used for aerodynamic design are not fit for purpose.
Specifically, for scenarios where flow is unsteady (highly separated flows, vortex dominated flows, acoustics problems etc.)
current generation software packages lack the required accuracy; since they are ubiquitously based on 'low-order' (first- or
second-order) accurate numerical methods. To solve challenging unsteady flow problems, and remove the need for
expensive physical prototyping, newer software based on advanced 'high-order' accurate numerical methods is required.
Additionally, this software must be able to achieve high-order accuracy on so-called 'unstructured grids' - used to mesh
complex engineering geometries, and it must be able to make effective use of next-generation 'many-core' computing
hardware (such as Nvidia Tesla GPUs, Intel Xeon Phi Co-Processors, and AMD FirePro GPUs), which will likely underpin
future HPC platforms.
Advanced high-order Flux Reconstruction (FR) methods, combined with many-core accelerators, could provide a `gamechanging'
technology capable of performing currently intractable unsteady turbulent flow simulations within the vicinity of
complex engineering geometries. However, various technical issues still need to be addressed before the above technology can be used `in anger' to solve real-world flow problems, which often involve `sliding planes' (situations when
two computational meshes slide across one another in a non-conforming fashion). The key objectives (of the academic
component) of the proposal are to develop a treatment for sliding planes that works effectively with FR methods on manycore
accelerators, and demonstrate the performance of FR methods on many-core accelerators for a range of industry led
test cases proposed by the financial (CFMS and Zenotech) and non-financial (Airbus, EADS, BAE, Rolls-Royce, ARA, UK
Aerodynamics Centre) project partners.
The academic component of the proposal will be lead by Dr. Peter Vincent (a Lecturer in the department of Aeronautics at
Imperial College London), and will build upon current work funded by 3 x EPSRC DTAs, 1 x Airbus/EPSRC iCASE DTA,
and an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship (EP/K027379/1).

Beneficiaries include all UK industries that rely on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and High-Performance
Computing (HPC), such as the UK the aerospace sector (see Economic Impact below). Other beneficiaries include the UK
Government and the general public, via impact of the technology on computational design capabilities within the UK
defence sector; and thus on UK defence capabilities per se (see Societal Impact below). Academic beneficiaries and
impact are discussed in Academic Beneficiaries.
Economic Impact:
i.) Knowledge and Skills (People): Knowledge and skills generated in the areas of CFD and HPC will benefit various
industries that are important to the UK economy. Such industries include the aerospace, automotive, and financial sectors.
ii.) Aerospace: The UK has traditionally been an exporter of high-tech aerospace products, providing significant financial
benefits to the UK economy. Specifically, turnover of the UK aerospace industry was £23.1 billion in 2010, of which 70%
was from exports. Technology developed under this proposal will provide the UK aerospace sector with a 'game-changing'
aerodynamic design capability, allowing it to move to the forefront in important emerging areas, such as design and
manufacture of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This will have a significant positive impact on the UK economy.
Societal Impact:
i.) Knowledge and Skills (People): Knowledge and skills generated in the areas of CFD and HPC can be applied in various
fields of research that have significant societal impact. Such fields include weather prediction, climate modelling and design
if quieter aircraft.
ii.) Defence Capabilities: In a time of significant defence cuts, it is becoming increasingly important that the UK Government
leverage technological advances to maintain and improve defence capabilities on a reduced budget. Technology
developed under this proposal will have a direct impact on computational design capabilities within the UK defence sector.
For example, it will have a significant impact on how CFD is used to design UAVs; leading to reduced design costs, and
more sophisticated and capable UAV technology. As such, the proposed work will have a significant impact on UK defence
capabilities.