PROTECTION ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: CTH is an expert level High Performance Computing (HPC) code developed by Sandia National

Description

CTH is an expert level High Performance Computing (HPC) code developed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to model a wide range of shock wave propagation and material motion phenomena. SNL continues to develop the technical capabilities of CTH, and, as a result, CTH is considered one of the most powerful Eulerian codes available. However, the user interface has not evolved and text-based input decks must be created by hand to generate and execute the models and to post-process the results. This method of input generation requires the user to develop an expert level understanding of syntax for both CTH and Spymaster (post- processing code for CTH) and offers no debugging capabilities prior to model execution. Protection Engineering Consultants (PEC) proposes to develop four improvements to facilitate the accessibility and applicability of CTH by industry and government users. We will develop: 1) a pre-processor for creating, visualizing, and modifying the models; 2) a post-processor that allows the user to easily access and manipulate the results; 3) a debugging and execution capability, and 4) a parametric analysis and optimization capability in Phase II. Commercial Applications: By reducing the complexity of model development and data extraction, the tremendous capabilities of CTH will be more accessible to industry and government. The addition of an optimization and probabilistic capability will allow engineers and modelers to more efficiently achieve successful designs. The resulting software package will be marketed to current and new users and should increase the usage of this powerful tool.