DESC0018077

Significant amounts of time and resources are spent generating and maintaining meshes for modeling and simulation by engineers and scientists in industry, government, and academia. Beyond mesh generation, one major problem complex multiphysics software, such as those used in nuclear energy software, currently faces is the computational mesh generation and refinement. The proposed work seeks to produce a set of general-purpose methodologies for automated mesh generation, refinement, and solution verification that will be universally applicable to all kinds of multiphysics simulation, with specific relevance for nuclear engineering applications. An open-source, network-enabled, modular, and extensible platform for mesh generation and solution transfer for complex reactor geometries is currently being built from custom and open-source tools. In this project, the software product will be extended to perform automated, smart adaptive mesh refinement. A software platform for mesh-related services was implemented with several mesh generation, solution verification, and adaptive refinement capabilities. The software was tested for multiphysics modeling and simulation applications. The functionality and benefits of the software were demonstrated for simple multiphysics applications. The software platform will be substantially improved for ease of use. The autonomy of the services provided will be improved. The software will be comprehensively tested and debugged in-house and on customer sites. The accessibility and interoperation capabilities will be significantly improved. Historically, significant resources and up to 80% of total analysis time is spent generating meshes/grids for multiphysics simulations. Engineers, scientists, and educators, especially those in the commercial sector or at small academic institutions, need an integrated, intuitive, and easy to use application that can reduce the burden of mesh generation. The proposed innovation delivers enhanced access to customized solutions to novice and expert users alike who rely on simulation in their research and development environments. The general purpose mesh generation, solution verification, and adaptive refinement capabilities to be provided will result cost and time savings for users across multiple mesh-using disciplines.