Fast Mesh Validation in Combustion Simulations through In-Situ Visualization

Abstract

In-situ visualization and analysis is a powerful concept that aims to give users the ability to process data while it is still resident in memory, thereby vastly reducing the amount of data left for post-hoc analysis. The problem of having too much data for posthoc analysis is exacerbated in large-scale high-performance computing applications such as Nek5000, a massively-parallel CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code used primarily for thermal hydraulics problems. Specifically, one problem users of Nek5000 often face is validating the mesh, that is identifying the exact location of problematic mesh elements within the whole mesh. Employing the standard post-hoc approach to address this problem is both time consuming and requires vast storage space. In this paper, we demonstrate how in-situ visualization, produced with SENSEI, a generic in-situ platform, helps users quickly validate the mesh. We also provide a bridge between Nek5000 and SENSEI that enables users to use any existing and future analysis routines in SENSEI. The approach is evaluated on a number of realistic datasets.