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The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Safety Administration (DOE/NNSA) recently announced that it has chosen MIT to establish a new research center dedicated to advancing predictive simulations of extreme environments, such as those encountered during Hypersonic flights and atmospheric reentry. The center will be part of the fourth phase of the NNSA Academic Alliance for Predictive Sciences (PSAAP-IV), which supports Frontier Research to advance the predictive capabilities of high-performance computing for open science and engineering applications related to the National Security Mission Space.
The Center for the Exascale Simulation of Coupled High-Enthalpy Fluid–Solid Interactions (CHEFSI) — a joint effort of the MIT Center for Computational Science and Engineering, the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, and the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) — plans to harness cutting-edge exascale supercomputers and next-generation algorithms to simulate with unprecedented details how very hot, fast moving gaseous and solid materials interact. Understanding of these extreme environments, characterized by temperatures exceeding 1,500 degrees Celsius and speeds up to Mach 25 – their impact on vehicles is critical to national security, space exploration and the development of advanced thermal protection systems.
“Chefsi will leverage MIT’s profound advantages in predictive modeling, high-performance computing and STEM education to help ensure the U.S. is at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation,” said Ian A. Waitz, vice president of research at MIT. “The center is particularly relevant to national security and advanced technology, reflecting MIT’s commitment to conducting research in a broad social interest.”
Chefsi is one of five new predictive simulation centers announced by NNSA, part of a plan that is expected to offer up to $17.5 million to each center over five years.
Chefsi’s research aims to conduct detailed simulations of high-rate gas flows with detailed simulations of chemical, thermal and mechanical behavior models of solid materials, thereby capturing phenomena such as oxidation, nitration, ablation and fracture. Advanced computational models, proven by carefully designed experiments, can address the limitations of flight testing by providing critical insights into matter performance and failure.
“By integrating high-fidelity physics models with artistic intelligence-based surrogate models, experimental validation, and state-of-the-art exascale computing tools, CHEFSI will help us understand and predict how thermal protection systems perform under some of the harshest conditions encountered in engineering systems,” says Raúl Radovitzky, the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, associate director of the ISN, and director of chef. “This knowledge will help design applied resilient systems from reusable spacecraft to hypersonic vehicles.”
Radovitzky will be appointed Astronautics and Astronautics, Professor of Youssef Marzouk, Breene M. Kerr (1951), Co-Director of the MIT Center for Computer Science and Engineering (CCSE), and was recently appointed Deputy Dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of MIT Schwarzman Computing Computing; Nicolas Hadjiconstantinoou, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Co-Director of CCSE, Quentin Berg (1937), and Nicolas Hadjiconstantinoou, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Co-Director of CCSE, who will serve as Deputy Director. The center’s joint key researchers include MIT faculty and staff in the departments of Aviation and Astronauts, Electrical and Computer Science, Materials Science and Engineering, Mathematics, and Mechanical Engineering. Franklin Hadley will lead the center business and own government and finance under Joshua Freedman’s remit. Hadley and Freedman are both members of the ISN headquarters team.
Chefsi hopes to collaborate extensively with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, and provide immersive research experience and internships at these facilities for graduate and doctoral degrees.