CHRONO: a parallel multi-physics library for rigid-body, flexible-body, and fluid dynamics

Abstract

Abstract. The last decade witnessed a manifest shift in the microprocessor industry towards chip designs that promote parallel computing. Until recently the privilege of a select group of large research centers, Teraflop computing is becoming a commodity owing to inexpensive GPU cards and multi to many-core x86 processors. This paradigm shift towards large scale parallel computing has been leveraged in Chrono, a freely available C++ multi-physics simulation package. Chrono is made up of a collection of loosely coupled components that facilitate different aspects of multi-physics modeling, simulation, and visualization. This contribution provides an overview of Chrono::Engine, Chrono::Flex, Chrono::Fluid, and Chrono::Render, which are modules that can capitalize on the processing power of hundreds of parallel processors. Problems that can be tackled in Chrono include but are not limited to granular material dynamics, tangled large flexible structures with self contact, particulate flows, and tracked vehicle mobility. The paper presents an overview of each of these modules and illustrates through several examples the potential of this multi-physics library.

Using Nesterov's Method to Accelerate Multibody Dynamics with Friction and Contact

“…The numerical experiments reported herein were carried out using Chrono, a library for rigid and flexible body dynamics [Mazhar et al 2013b].…”

Parallel Computing in Multibody System Dynamics: Why, When, and How

“…The results reported in [64,65] drew on models with close to one million degrees of freedom and thus provide ample opportunities for parallel computing. For the specifics of a parallel implementation of the FSI solution, the interested reader is referred to [42].…”

“…Finally, MPI-enabled distributed computing is used to investigate the dynamics of a wheeled vehicle operating on discrete deformable terrain. These models were run in Chrono, an open source parallel simulation framework for computational dynamics [42,72].…”

“…Parallel computing has already been applied in our community to address domain specific problems, see [8,22,67]. Finally, software for general purpose parallel MBD is discussed in [31,42,55].…”

ESA multibody simulator for spacecrafts’ ascent and landing in a microgravity environment

“…Adequate representation of the soil dynamic properties [13][14][15] as well as the lander structure [16] and shock absorbing characteristics [17] are key parameters for determining the equivalent friction between the lander and the soil. Also, a proper selection of a number of parameters [18] such as the vertical and lateral landing velocities and the spacecraft inclination angle of the landing target can determine the margin of risk to crash, bounce or tip over during landing.…”