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Accelerating low-fidelity aerodynamic codes on multi- and many-core architectures

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Abstract

Vortex lattice and panel methods belong to a broad family of aerodynamic codes based on potential flow theory. They are used in preliminary aerodynamic studies in early stages of aircraft design where hundreds of thousands candidate configurations are analyzed. In this paper, we describe their efficient implementation on modern multi- and many-core architectures. We show how to bridge the ‘ninja gap’, defined as the performance gap between an unoptimized C/C\(++\) code and best optimized CPU code. We port the Vortex Lattice Method to a Graphics Processing Unit using the OpenACC standard. An elegant solution for implementation of data movements for C\(++\) classes is also presented.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by an NSERC Engage Grant with Cray Canada ULC as an industrial partner. M. Chrust and E. Laurendeau would like to thank Cray Canada ULC for providing access to the computing resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Marcin Chrust & Eric Laurendeau

  2. Cray Canada ULC, Ottawa, Canada

    Luc Ostiguy

Authors
  1. Marcin Chrust
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  2. Eric Laurendeau
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  3. Luc Ostiguy
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Correspondence to Marcin Chrust.

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Chrust, M., Laurendeau, E. & Ostiguy, L. Accelerating low-fidelity aerodynamic codes on multi- and many-core architectures. J Supercomput 71, 3456–3481 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-015-1444-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-015-1444-6

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