Compframe 2005

Atlanta, GA, June 22-23, 2005

Applying Component Technology to Coupled Fusion Simulation
Donald B. Batchelor, Lee A. Berry, Wayne A. Houlberg, E. F. Jaeger, David E. Bernholdt, Wael R. Elwasif, Ed F. D'Azevedo, James A. Kohl, and Shuhui Li.
Abstract
Integrated simulation of magnetically confined fusion has long been recognized as a major milestone towards feasible fusion reactor designs. Such simulations involve a myriad of physics processes that span spatio-temporal scales spanning many orders of magnitudes. The fusion community has long relied on balkanized stand alone code basis to simulate different aspects of this highly complex process. Coupling codes has typically involved exchanging input/output files, using application-specific data filters. Such approach cannot scale to cover the many processes and codes that will need to be effectively coupled in a long running integrated fusion simulation. In this paper, we present our experience in using high performance component technology, as exemplified by the Common Component Architecture (CCA), to develop a prototype simulation framework that couples the simulation of radio frequency (RF) heating and transport physics as a first step towards integrated device modeling. We outline our experience as a collaborative team of fusion scientists, computer scientists, and mathematicians in evolving legacy standalone codes towards a coupled component environment. We discuss the lessons learned through this process, and the scalability challenges in extending this framework to accommodate more physical processes.
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