Alston S. Householder Fellow explores explosive issues

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To develop these simulations, Deiterding collaborated with several experts in detonation and compressible gas dynamics, including Drs. Joseph E. Shepherd, Dale I. Pullin and Hans G. Hornung, all from the Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Fluid-Structure Application

But the techniques Deiterding developed have uses far beyond pipes.  “Software that simulates detonation waves also has application to other kinds of problems related to shock waves,” he notes.

One such problem involves thin copper plates rupturing when a pressure wave hits them.  Deiterding developed the Virtual Test Facility software for this simulation when he worked as chief software architect for the DOE Advanced Simulation and Computing Center at Caltech.  The simulation mimics the effect of an underwater explosion on a small part of a ship’s hull, a problem of keen interest to the Department of Defense.  Deiterding’s collaborators included Dr. Fehmi Cirak of Cambridge University and Dr. Daniel Meiron of Caltech.

The same fluid-structure interaction software also will help solve a critical problem at ORNL.  The lab is home to the Spallation Neutron Source, a particle accelerator that produces the world’s most intense pulses of neutrons, that is supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences within the DOE’s Office of Science.  Recording how neutrons scatter when they hit a sample gives scientists insights into materials at the molecular level.

But to generate neutrons, high-energy pulses of protons must strike a heavy-metal target enclosed by a container filled with liquid mercury.  Shock wave interaction creates fluid cavities that severely damage the container walls.  That, in turn, limits the beam power available to researchers.  Deiterding is working with Dr. Bernie Riemer and Dr. Mark Wendel of ORNL to develop a simulation that will predict the shock-induced structural loadings.

Although the chemical and nuclear industries and the military could provide an endless supply of problems for Deiterding to solve, the ones he chooses share one essential characteristic.

“With software development going on for 20 to 30 years, it’s sometimes hard to find scientifically rewarding applications,” he says.  “So I look for areas where the simulation software is underdeveloped.  That gives me a good reason to propose projects.  The main problem is usually mathematical, but I have the further luxury of writing new software.”

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