Dr. W. David Pointer
Distinguished Computational Fluid Dynamics Nuclear Engineer
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Abstract

Recent advancements in high performance computing (HPC) are opening doors to a new era of engineering analysis.  In the early 2000s, the birth of contemporary commercial HPC architectures enabled the development of multi-physics frameworks that in turn enabled split-operator integration of multiple physics or engineering codes. Each of these independent solvers may be carefully constructed to address specific characteristics of the equations describing the particular physical phenomena addressed by that code. Significant work in the past decade has focused on refinement of these Picard integration schemes and investigation of alternative Jacobian free methods.  Today, petascale computational resources are enabling a new, orthogonal layer of integration in which high-resolution simulations describing a particular physical phenomenon are used to improve lower resolution engineering models through both calibration and direct data methods.  This presentation will review current efforts in advanced multi-scale thermal hydraulics simulation in the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) and Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) programs of the US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy.

Biography

David Pointer (PhD, NE, University of Tennessee, 2001; MS, NE, University of Tennessee, 2000) is a Distinguished R&D Staff Member of the Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he specializes in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and heat transfer, experimental fluid dynamics and heat transfer, and nuclear reactor safety. He serves as the Deputy Focus Area Lead for Thermal Hydraulics Methods in the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors. He contributes to a number of other initiatives including the development of high fidelity experiments to qualify thermal hydraulic and CFD software for the analysis of advanced nuclear power systems; the validation and development of multi-dimensional simulation capabilities for liquid metal, molten salt, high temperature gas and boiling water flows; and the application of CFD methods to a variety of engineering problems in the areas of electric power generation, engine design and vehicle aerodynamics. Dr. Pointer was the recipient of the 2014 American Nuclear Society Young Member Advancement Award, the 2012 American Nuclear Society Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award and the 2007 American Nuclear Society Young Member Excellence Award. He is the Vice Chair of the ANS Thermal Hydraulics Division, a Member of the ANS Board of Directors and a Past-President of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NAYGN).