HPC User Site Census: Computational Fluid Dynamics Applications

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Intersect360 Research surveyed the High Performance Computing (HPC) user community to complete its eleventh Site Census study. The study is a look at their
current computer system installations, storage systems, networks, middleware, and application software supporting these computer installations.

This report provides a detailed analysis of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications installed at surveyed HPC sites. Our
goal in this analysis is to provide an overview of the CFD applications space, including the breadth of applications and those that are most commonly
used.

Our Site Census survey results can be found in many reports, including the following:

  • HPC System Configurations and Technologies
  • HPC System Vendors Installed
  • HPC Storage Configurations and Technologies
  • HPC Storage Vendors Installed
  • HPC Networking Technologies
  • HPC Processing Technologies (Including Accelerators)
  • HPC Operating System Installations
  • HPC Middleware and Tool Installations
  • HPC Application Installations (segmented into application domains):

    • Biosciences
    • Business: Business intelligence, analytics, pattern recognition, ERP, CRM, security, complex event processing, general business
    • Chemistry
    • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
    • Engineering: Structural analysis, electronic design automation (EDA), general engineering
    • Finance and economics
    • Geophysics
    • Physics
    • Scientific research
    • Visualization and image analysis
    • Weather modeling, climate modeling, environment modeling 

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications are used in a wide variety of vertical markets to model or simulate the movement of gases and fluids. These
applications occur in various fields of research and industry. With its breadth of applicability, CFD is the second-most cited application domain in
our most recent Site Census survey analysis, with 286 (11.6%) of the 2,466 mentions.

The majority of CFD application usage comes from ISV applications. Commercial HPC sites strongly prefer ISV applications for CFD; ISV applications
account for nearly three-quarters of CFD in the commercial sector.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Methodology

Total Responses

Table 1: HPC User Site Census Responses for Application Analysis

HPC APPLICATION USAGE: COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

Figure 1: HPC User Site Census Applications by Domain

Figure 2: Source of CFD Applications (Open-Source, In-House, ISV) by Economic Sector

Table 2: Top Named CFD Applications in HPC User Site Census Survey

Figure 3: Sources of Named CFD Applications in HPC User Site Census Survey

Table 3: Full List of Named CFD Applications in HPC User Site Census Survey

INTERSECT360 RESEARCH ANALYSIS