A Generic Performance Analysis Technique Applied to Different CFD Methods for HPC

Abstract

For complex engineering and scientific applications, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations require a huge amount of computational power. As such, it is of paramount importance to carefully assess the performance of CFD codes and to study them in depth for enabling optimisation and portability. In this paper, we study three complex CFD codes, OpenFOAM, Alya and CHORUS representing two numerical methods, namely the finite volume and finite-element methods, on both structured and unstructured meshes. To all codes, we apply a generic performance analysis method based on a set of metrics helping the code developer in spotting the critical points that can potentially limit the scalability of a parallel application. We show the root cause of the performance bottlenecks studying the three applications on the MareNostrum4 supercomputer. We conclude providing hints for improving the performance and the scalability of each application.

Lessons Learned from a Performance Analysis and Optimization of a Multiscale Cellular Simulation

“…In Figure 1 we can see the hierarchy of POP metrics. We can find a complete definition and how each metric is computed in the work of Garcia-Gasulla et al [33]. Below we give a short overview of the meaning of each metric when analyzing an OpenMP code.…”

Permafrost modelling with OpenFOAM®: New advancements of the permaFoam solver

“…Its development in the framework of OpenFOAM ® allows to use efficiently modern supercomputing infrastructures (e.g. : [48,11]), and to benefit from the momentum of a large community including both academic and industrial users.…”

APFoam 1.0: integrated computational fluid dynamics simulation of O<sub>3</sub>–NO<sub><i>x</i></sub>–volatile organic compound chemistry and pollutant dispersion in a typical street canyon

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