By: Michael Feldman

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is investing 1.87 million in seven projects intended to advance manufacturing using high performance computing.

The awards are part the DOE’s High Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) program, which is designed to spur US industrial innovation.  It does this by offering selected manufacturers access to supercomputers and associated expertise at some of the agency’s national labs. These ones currently participating in the program are Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBLN), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).

Starting in 2015, the DOE has made four series of awards under this program, totaling 47 projects and $15 million. Since its inception, the program has been expanded to include projects that investigate advance materials, specifically those that can withstand extreme conditions – the Fossil Energy High Performance Computing for Materials (HPC4Mtls) Program.

For these latest award, the selected manufacturers and their respective projects include:

PPG Industries, Inc., which will partner with LBNL to model an electrostatic rotary bell atomizer used for painting automobiles.

Vitro Flat Glass LLC., which will partner with LLNL to develop real-time glass furnace control using a neural network-powered model of a CFD simulation.

Caterpillar Inc., which will partner with ANL to improve efficiency and reduce emissions of diesel engines through simulations of piston and spray geometry. (The project will be co-funded by the Vehicle Technology Office and the Advanced Manufacturing Office.)

Eaton Corporation, which will partner with ORNL to develop waste heat recovery technology that can be used in industrial manufacturing processes and vehicle operations.

General Motors LLC, which will partner with LLNL to reduce cycle time in composite manufacturing. (The project will be co-funded by the Vehicle Technology Office and the Advanced Manufacturing Office.)

Arconic Inc., which will partner with LLNL and ORNL to develop advanced understanding of the non-equilibrium metallic phases established during metal additive manufacturing processes. (The project will be co-funded by the Office of Fossil Energy as an HPC4Materials for Severe Environments seedling project and by the Advanced Manufacturing Office as part of the HPC4Mfg portfolio.)

Vader Systems, LLC, which will partner with SNL to understand the physics involved in applying MagnetoJet 3D printing technology to higher melting point metals and for using higher ejection rates.

Each of the seven new projects will receive up to $300,000 worth of simulation time on DOE supercomputers and access to subject-matter expertise at the labs. The manufacturers are expected to kick in 20 to 50 percent of the cost, which includes their own manufacturing expertise and data required to meet the needs of the project.