Final Report for Project "Framework Application for Core-Edge Transport Simulations (FACETS)"

This is the final report for the Colorado State University Component of the FACETS Project. FACETS was focused on the development of a multiphysics, parallel framework application that could provide the capability to enable whole-device fusion reactor modeling and, in the process, the development of the modeling infrastructure and computational understanding needed for ITER. It was intended that FACETS be highly flexible, through the use of modern computational methods, including component technology and object oriented design, to facilitate switching from one model to another for a given aspect of the physics, and making it possible to use simplified models for rapid turnaround or high-fidelity models that will take advantage of the largest supercomputer hardware. FACETS was designed in a heterogeneous parallel context, where different parts of the application can take advantage through parallelism based on task farming, domain decomposition, and/or pipelining as needed and applicable. As with all fusion simulations, an integral part of the FACETS project was treatment of the coupling of different physical processes at different scales interacting closely. A primary example for the FACETS project is the coupling of existing core and edge simulations, with the transport and wall interactions described by reduced models. However, core and edge more » simulations themselves involve significant coupling of different processes with large scale differences. Numerical treatment of coupling is impacted by a number of factors including, scale differences, form of information transferred between processes, implementation of solvers for different codes, and high performance computing concerns. Operator decomposition involving the computation of the individual processes individually using appropriate simulation codes and then linking/synchronizing the component simulations at regular points in space and time, is the defacto approach to high performance simulation of multiphysics, multiscale systems. Various forms of operator decomposition are used in nearly all fusion simulations. However, operator decomposition generally has a complex effect on accuracy and stability of numerical simulations. Yet, these effects can be difficult to detect. The Colorado State University component of the FACETS team led by P. I. D. Estep was focused on analyzing the effects of operator decomposition on fusion simulations. The approach was based on a posteriori error analysis employing adjoint problems, computable residuals, and variational analysis to produce accurate computational error estimates for quantities of interest. Computable residuals are used to quantify the effects of various discretization choices. The generalized Greens function satisfying the adjoint problem quantities the effects of stability. Technical issues to be addressed included: (1) defining appropriate adjoint operators for operator decomposition discretizations; (2) determining the appropriate residuals for the multifaceted aspects involved with multiphysics discretizations; (3) producing the estimates within the computational framework of existing fusion codes; (4) carrying out the analysis for discretizations used in fusion simulations; and (5) devising efficient approaches to mitigating the effects of discretization. This report provides a summary of the accomplished research and a detailed description of personnel, activities, outcomes and achievements. « less