Luminary Cloud Accelerates Engineering Simulations with NVIDIA GPUs

Engineering
simulation
is
a
critical
tool
used
across
various
industries
to
accelerate
product
development,
enhance
safety,
and
optimize
designs.
However,
these
simulations
typically
require
substantial
high-performance
computing
(HPC)
resources
and
can
be
time-consuming.
Luminary
Cloud,
a
member
of
the
NVIDIA
Inception
program,
aims
to
address
these
challenges
by
utilizing
cloud
and
NVIDIA
GPU
technologies
to
expedite
these
processes.

Challenges
in
Computational
Fluid
Dynamics

Computational
fluid
dynamics
(CFD)
plays
a
significant
role
in
engineering
and
scientific
advancements.
However,
several
challenges
hinder
its
widespread
adoption.
A
recent
survey
highlights
these
issues,
including
lengthy
simulation
turnaround
times,
the
need
for
improved
simulation
robustness
and
accuracy,
inefficient
model
preparation,
and
high
costs.

• 
  Simulation
  turnaround
  time:
  Many
  CFD
  projects
  require
  weeks
  or
  even
  months
  to
  complete.
• 
  Simulation
  robustness:
  Improvements
  are
  needed
  in
  automatic
  meshing
  capabilities
  and
  price-performance
  ratios.
• 
  Model
  preparation:
  Setting
  up
  CFD
  simulations
  can
  be
  time-intensive,
  taking
  months
  in
  some
  cases.
• 
  Cost:
  High
  license
  costs
  are
  a
  significant
  barrier,
  with
  budget
  constraints
  being
  a
  major
  challenge
  for
  many
  organizations.

Accelerated
Simulation
with
NVIDIA
GPUs

NVIDIA
GPUs
have
revolutionized
various
fields,
including
quantum
computing,
climate
science,
and





artificial
intelligence,
by
providing
processing
speeds
up
to
1,000
times
faster
than
CPU-only
processing.
In
CFD,
the
acceleration
can
be
over
30
times
faster
than
traditional
CPU-based
computing.
This
advancement
has
significantly
reduced
the
time
required
for
complex
simulations.

High-Performance
Computing
in
the
Cloud

Access
to
HPC
resources
is
a
common
challenge
in
CFD.
The
cloud
offers
a
solution
by
providing
scalable
and
efficient
HPC
resources
that
can
be
accessed
as
needed.
This
approach
increases
cost
efficiency,
reduces
time-to-market,
and
allows
companies
to
leverage
the
latest
hardware,
such
as
NVIDIA
GPUs,
without
the
need
for
in-house
infrastructure.

Luminary
Cloud’s
Innovative
Solution

Luminary
Cloud
offers
a
multi-physics
solution
supporting
CFD
for
fluid-flow
physics
and
conjugate
heat
transfer
(CHT)
for
thermal
management.
The
platform
leverages
cloud-based
SaaS
and
multi-node
NVIDIA
GPU
accelerated
computing
to
provide
a
near-real-time
engineering
experience.
Lumi
AI,
an
AI-based
engineering
design
copilot,
further
enhances
efficiency
by
automating
mesh
generation
and
adapting
computational
meshes
for
higher
accuracy.

In
a
demonstration,
Luminary
Cloud
ran
20
parallel
simulations
with
40
million
control
volumes
each,
completing
them
in
under
two
minutes
using
a
modest
number
of
GPUs.
Another
simulation
involving
a
full
aircraft
geometry
with
150
million
control
volumes
was
completed
in
about
seven
minutes
using
40
NVIDIA
A100
GPUs,
a
task
that
would
have
taken
several
hours
with
traditional
methods.

Case
Study:
Joby
Aviation

Joby
Aviation
has
benefited
significantly
from
Luminary
Cloud’s
platform
and
NVIDIA
GPUs.
The
platform
has
enabled
Joby
to
rapidly
iterate
on
designs,
reducing
the
time
required
for
essential
redesigns
and
expediting
the
regulatory
approval
process.
This
efficiency
is
crucial
in
the
competitive
market
of
electric
air
taxis.

“You
can
take
complete
aircraft
configurations
and
run
them
in
a
matter
of
minutes.
It
allows
a
level
of
confidence
that
was
unprecedented
before.
You
can
quickly
say
‘Yes,
this
will
or
will
not
work,’”
explained
Joby
Chief
Aerodynamicist
Gregor
Mikić.

Benefits
of
Cloud-Based
CAE

Luminary
Cloud’s
solution
offers
a
novel,
real-time
engineering
experience,
facilitating
highly
interactive
simulations
that
expedite
engineering
processes.
The
platform
supports
various
modeling
approaches,
allowing
users
to
select
the
appropriate
accuracy
level
for
their
projects.
Its
user-friendly
interface
ensures
a
seamless
experience,
enhancing
productivity
and
enabling
exploration
of
new
frontiers
in
computational
engineering.

For
more
information
about

Luminary
Cloud,
visit
the

NVIDIA
Technical
Blog.

Image
source:
Shutterstock