Dacolt offers CFD modeling software and services for combustion applications. They have been involved in cloud computing for nearly a decade through their Tabkin combustion software and web services framework. An engineering project used OpenFOAM in the cloud to model a domestic burner and fatigue experiment, which was successfully completed on time using a cloud cluster. Dacolt's experience demonstrates that engineering simulations can feasibly use Open Source CFD in the cloud by selecting an appropriate cloud provider and being prepared to deal with related HPC issues.

1. Dacolt
Combustion & CFD
Open Source CFD in the cloud
Google Hangout - Jan 2014
Document: Dacolt_Google_Hangout
Revision: 1
© Dacolt 2009 - 2014
Dacolt is the trading name of Dacolt International BV, registered under number 14082157 at the Dutch chamber of commerce.

2. Contents
• Introduction
• Cloud activities @ Dacolt
• Engineering project using Open Source CFD in the Cloud
• Summary
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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3. About Dacolt
Dacolt offers software and services
for CFD modeling of industrial combustion applications
• Software & Services:
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CFD consultancy
Software development
Tabkin for CFD look-up tables (SaaS)
Engineering services and training
• Applications:
– Internal combustion engines
– Gas turbines
– Industrial and domestic burners
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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4. Cloud activities @ Dacolt
• Tabkin:
– Combustion software
– Cloud based (SaaS)
– Runs in Dacolt WSF
Web Services Framework
• Web Services Framework:
– Create, manage & deploy
HPC apps in the Cloud
– Not only for combustion!
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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5. © Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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6. Cloud activities @ Dacolt
• Participation in UberCloud HPC Experiment since 2012
• Team expert for 5 teams:
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Team
Team
Team
Team
Team
4: Supersonic flow (S&T), ESI, OpenFOAM®, Celia
36: Diesel engines (Dacolt), Ansys, Fluent, POD
52: GT burners (CSE Fire), ESI, OpenFOAM®, Bull XF
85: Power plants (OEM), ESI, OpenFOAM®, Bull XF
95: Combustion (Areté RC), ESI, OpenFOAM®, CPU 24/7
• Various experiences, hurdles and solutions
– Mostly related to software installation or IT connection issues
– Typically start-up problems
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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7. © Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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8. Engineering project using Open Source
CFD software in the Cloud
• Project scope:
– CFD analyses of various processes
– Coupling to FE analyses for fatigue
• Software:
– ICON FOAMpro, now iconCFD
– Derived from OpenFOAM
– chtMultiRegionFoam derived solver
• Computational resources:
– Local cluster (32 cores – 2x Intel Xeon E5-2660
– Cloud cluster (96 cores – 6x Intel Xeon E5-2690)
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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9. Domestic burner for hot water
Burnt gas (approx. 1700 C)
Hot water (80 C)
Water
Cold water (60 C)
Cooled down gas
(approx. 90 C)
+ condensate
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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10. Fatigue experiment
Burnt gas (approx. 1700 C)
Hot water (80 C)
Water
Cold water (60 C)
Cooled down gas
(approx. 90 C)
+ condensate
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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11. Fatigue experiment
Burner stopped
Flush ~ 60 s
Water
Cold water (15 C)
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
11

12. CFD model setup
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Gas-side CFD provides HT BC
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Coupled water flow +
conduction through tubes
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Simulate fatigue experiment
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50M cells, 10 s, dt=4e-5 s
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Runtime:
– 6 weeks in office
– Too long for customer deadline
-> Scale up!
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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13. Cloud resources
• Target:
– 2 weeks to find provider and start production runs
– Reduce simulation turn-around time to 2 weeks
• Main criteria:
– Predictable scalability
– Pricing
• Sabalcore:
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Same CPU architecture (Intel Xeon Sandy Bridge)
Same OS
Same Infiniband interconnect
Competitive pricing
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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14. Cloud experience
• Procedure:
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Remote login via ssh from local workstation
Upload mesh (50M cells)
Remote partitioning
Submit job to queue
Remote recomposing
Download intermediate results
Local post-processing + transfer to FE analysts
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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15. Cloud experience
• Production run:
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2 weeks on 96 cores ~ 32000 CPU-core hrs
Nearly linear speed-up going from 32 to 96 cores
6,5 Gb of data per day, ~ 1 Tb in total
Daily file transfer
• Overall experience:
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Satisfying and applicable for engineering simulations
Good to aim specific target platform for supplier selection
Be aware of MPI-related issues and other HPC stuff
Allow for sufficient time for file transfer (overnight)
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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16. Summary
• Dacolt involved in Cloud activities for nearly a decade:
– Tabkin: cloud-based combustion software
– WSF: PaaS for HPC applications
– Team expert in various UberCloud HPC experiments
• Engineering project using Open Source CFD in the cloud:
– Surely feasible, especially if familiar with Linux
– Set appropriate selection criteria for provider to minimise risks
– Project achievements:
• Delivered on time
• Final fatigue results well in line with experiments
© Dacolt 2009 – 2014
www.dacolt.com
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17. Dacolt
Combustion & CFD
Open Source CFD in the cloud
Google Hangout - Jan 2014
Document: Dacolt_Google_Hangout
Revision: 1
© Dacolt 2009 - 2014
Dacolt is the trading name of Dacolt International BV, registered under number 14082157 at the Dutch chamber of commerce.