Caltech Contact: Dan Meiron
Email: dim at caltech.edu
Website: http://csdrm.caltech.edu

In Phase 1 of the ASC/ASAP program, the Caltech Center for the Simulation of Dynamic Response in Materials constructed a proof of concept for a Virtual shock physics Test Facility (VTF) in which the full three-dimensional response of a variety of target materials can be simulated for a wide range of compressive, tensional, and shear loadings, including those produced by detonation of energetic materials. The goals of the Center were then, and continue to be, to facilitate simulation of a variety of phenomena in which strong shock and detonation waves impinge on targets consisting of various combinations of materials, compute the subsequent dynamic response of the target materials, and validate these computations against experimental data. Three important themes have provided the guiding principles for the work during the first five years: science and modeling development, computational algorithms, and software integration. Our goal in Phase II of the Alliance program is centered on the application of the VTF to a series of integrated multiphysics simulations each with direct relevance to fundamental scientific issues in the dynamic response of materials that in turn are directly connected to proposed and existing experiments. That is, validation will be intrinsically integrated into our research efforts. We have strucutured a program of research activities in computational and computer science and an integrated research program in the relevant computational fluid and solid dynamics to further develop a new generation of multiscale models that will provide unprecedented fidelity for materials response in both fluids and solids. In addition to the original three organizing themes of the Center's research we have added a fourth significant component for the second phase of our ASC effort - this theme is validation wherein the Terascale simulations required for this new level of multiscale modeling and the corresponding experiments are conducted in a coordinated way and support each other in pursuit of improved modeling.