Applications Overview

Advanced Computing and Visualization to Address National Transportation Issues

Federal, regional, and state transportation research programs, as well as those from private industry, are moving toward simulation-based design and analysis for improvements in the efficiency, economics, and safety of transportation systems. Large-scale, detailed models of the systems and underlying phenomena in areas such as crashworthiness, aerodynamics, combustion, thermal management, weather modeling and traffic simulation can produce high-fidelity computational results. However, effective use of the models relies on the availability of parallel and massively parallel computers to provide visual and computational capability in a timely fashion.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has established the Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) national user facility at Argonne National Laboratory for use by USDOT research teams, including those from Argonne, and their university partners. TRACC features a state-of-the-art massively parallel computer system, advanced scientific visualization capability, high-speed network connectivity, and modern engineering analysis software. These advanced computing and visualization facilities will be used for focused computer research and development programs in areas specified by USDOT.

Argonne's expertise in high-performance computing and transportation system analysis, world-class computing and advanced visualization facilities, experience in high-speed networking, and experience in building strong user communities, makes the Laboratory the ideal focal point for the USDOT's computational research for transportation applications.

Although many potential research applications in modeling and simulation have been identified and are being pursued by teams worldwide, the examples shown below illustrate TRACC's potential role in advanced modeling, simulation, and high-performance computing in the field of transportation.