New HiPerGator Simulations “Solve Mother Nature” To Address Real-World Problems

In one of the most intensive uses yet of the University of Florida’s HiPerGator supercomputer, UF engineers have faithfully reproduced the turbulence and complexity of hot air rising along a wall — a previously impossible simulation with applications in home fire safety and heating and cooling.

Such a fine-grained and detailed simulation of so-called thermal wall plumes has not been possible in the past because of the complexity of the air movements. But thanks to dedicated use of 90% of the HiPerGator’s AI cluster over several days, the research team led by UF engineering professor Sivaramakrishnan Balachandar was able to track turbulent eddies of air twisting and swirling on the sub-millimeter level.

“We used nearly the entire HiPerGator AI cluster to solve a problem which has hitherto not been solved in our community at this level of detail,” Balachandar said. “Turbulent flow is one of the grand challenges in science and engineering. Turbulence affects us everywhere, from airplane performance, to hurricane tracks and volcanic plumes.”

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