Modernization and optimization of a legacy open-source CFD code for high-performance computing architectures

Legacy codes remain a crucial element of today's simulation-based engineering ecosystem due to the extensive validation process and investment in such software. The rapid evolution of high-performance computing architectures necessitates the modernization of these codes. One approach to modernization is a complete overhaul of the code. However, this could require extensive investments, such as rewriting in modern languages, new data constructs, etc., which will necessitate systematic verification and validation to re-establish the credibility of the computational models. The current study advocates using a more incremental approach and is a culmination of several modernization efforts of the legacy code MFIX, which is an open-source computational fluid dynamics code that has evolved over several decades, widely used in multiphase flows and still being developed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Two different modernization approaches,‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’, are illustrated. Preliminary results show up to 8.5x improvement at the selected kernel level with the first approach, and up to 50% improvement in total simulated time with the latter were achieved for the demonstration cases and target HPC systems employed.     

Investigation of Cs(I) adsorption on densely crosslinked poly(sodium methacrylate) from aqueous solutions

In this study, a crosslinked copolymer bearing sodium methacrylate functional groups has been proposed to remove Cs(I) ions from aqueous solutions. For this purpose, the crosslinked copolymer of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDM) and methacrylic acid (MA) containing 25% MA as weight percentage was synthesized by using benzoyl peroxide (BPO)-N,N-dimethyl aniline initiator system. The available carboxyl groups in copolymer were converted to the groups of sodium methacrylate using 2 N NaOH. The adsorption behavior of cesium ions on the densely crosslinked poly(sodium methacrylate) from aqueous solutions were investigated by the technique of ICP-MS measurements of cesium ions in solutions. Batch adsorption method was used to analyze the Cs(I) adsorption as a function of parameters such as the amount of adsorbent, contact time, pH of solution, initial Cs(I) concentration and temperature. The adsorption data were evaluated by the Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) isotherms. The adsorption capacity and free energy change were calculated by using D–R isotherm. The adsorption data obtained from experimental results have been tested by the fractional power, the Elovich, the pseudo-first order and the pseudo-second order kinetic models.     

A Comprehensive Study of N-Butyl-1H-Benzimidazole

Imidazole derivatives have found wide application in organic and medicinal chemistry. In particular, benzimidazoles have proven biological activity as antiviral, antimicrobial, and antitumor agents. In this work, we experimentally and theoretically investigated N-Butyl-1H-benzimidazole. It has been shown that the presence of a butyl substituent in the N position does not significantly affect the conjugation and structural organization of benzimidazole. The optimized molecular parameters were performed by the DFT/B3LYP method with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. This level of theory shows excellent concurrence with the experimental data. The non-covalent interactions that existed within our compound N-Butyl-1H-benzimidazole were also analyzed by the AIM, RDG, ELF, and LOL topological methods. The color shades of the ELF and LOL maps confirm the presence of bonding and non-bonding electrons in N-Butyl-1H-benzimidazole. From DFT calculations, various methods such as molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), Fukui functions, Mulliken atomic charges, and frontier molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) were characterized. Furthermore, UV-Vis absorption and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis were calculated. It is shown that the experimental and theoretical spectra of N-Butyl-1H-benzimidazole have a peak at 248 nm; in addition, the experimental spectrum has a peak near 295 nm. The NBO method shows that the delocalization of the aσ-electron from σ (C1–C2) is distributed into antibonding σ* (C1–C6), σ* (C1–N26), and σ* (C6–H11), which leads to stabilization energies of 4.63, 0.86, and 2.42 KJ/mol, respectively. Spectroscopic investigations of N-Butyl-1H-benzimidazole were carried out experimentally and theoretically to find FTIR vibrational spectra.     

Characterization of a 2‐Benzo[c]cinnoline Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode by Raman Spectroscopy,Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy,and Ellipsometry

This work describes the characterization of the grafted 2‐benzo[c]cinnoline (2BCC) molecules at a glassy carbon (GC) electrode surface by voltammetry and spectroscopy. Attachment of the molecule to the carbon substrate was achieved by the electrochemical reduction of 2‐benzo[c]cinnoline diazonium salt (2BCC‐DAS). GC electrode modification was carried out in aprotic solution with 2BCC diazonium salt. Dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) were used to prove the surface modification to see the blockage of the electron transfer. The presence of 2BCC at the GC electrode surface was characterized by cyclic voltammetry and Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor molecular bound properties of the adsorbates at the 2BCC‐GC surface and confirm the attachment of 2BCC molecules onto the GC surface. The thickness of the 2BCC film on GC was also investigated by ellipsometric measurement.     

Investigation of neutron and proton distributions of He,Li, and Be isotopes using the new Skyrme-Force parameters

The proton and neutron densities, root-mean-square (rms) radii of proton density and neutron density, and neutron skin thickness of ^4–10He, ^6–11Li, and ^7–12Be isotopes are calculated using Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method with SLy4, SLy5, SLy6, and SLy7 force parameters. The evaluated results are compared with experimental data. Also, the results of halo nuclei (^6,8He, ¹¹Li, and ¹¹Be) are compared with the results of other isotopes for selected nuclei having the same neutron configuration.     

Calculation of the ground state properties of even-even Sn isotopes

We investigate the ground-state properties of even-even Sn isotopes using the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock (SHF) and Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov (SHFB) methods with SKM* and SLy4 force parameters. We focus on isotopes of even-even Sn because these isotopes are vital to the structural studies of unstable nuclei taking place at the electron radioactive-ion collider at RIKEN. In the present paper, we calculate the binding energies per particle, the rms nuclear charge radii, the rms nuclear proton density radii, and the rms nuclear neutron density radii, for even-even Sn isotopes, using the SHF and SHFB methods. We compare our results with experimental data and with the results of relativistic mean-field theory. Notably, we fit our calculated binding energies per particle to experimental results, using the aforementioned SHF methods with SKM* and SLy4 parameters     

Synthesis, molecular structure, spectroscopic studies and second-order nonlinear optical behaviour of N,N'-(2-hydroxy-propane-1,3-diyl)-bis(5-nitrosalicylaldiminato-N,O)-copper(II)

N,N'-(2-Hydroxy-propane-1,3-diyl)-bis(5-nitrosalicylaldiminato-N,O)-copper(II) has been synthesized. The crystal structure has been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis, and linear optical characterization has been determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. It was found that the molecule under investigation has solvatochromic behaviour in the UV region, implying non-zero microscopic first hyperpolarizability. To reveal the microscopic nonlinear optical (NLO) properties, the static first hyperpolarizabilities (beta) and the electric dipole moments (mu) were evaluated by using the ab initio finite field (FF) method. According to the results of the FF calculations, the synthesized compound exhibits non-zero beta values, and it might have microscopic NLO behaviour.     

Synthesis,Characterization, Electronic and Gas‐Sensing Properties towards H2 and CO of Transparent,Large‐Area,Low‐Layer Graphene

Low‐layered, transparent graphene is accessible by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique on a Ni‐catalyst layer, which is deposited on a <100> silicon substrate. The number of graphene layers on the substrate is controlled by the grain boundaries in the Ni‐catalyst layer and can be studied by micro Raman analysis. Electrical studies showed a sheet resistance (R_sheet) of approximately 1435 Ω per □, a contact resistance (R_c) of about 127 Ω, and a specific contact resistance (R_sc) of approximately 2.8×10^?4 Ω cm² for the CVD graphene samples. Transistor output characteristics for the graphene sample demonstrated linear current/voltage behavior. A current versus voltage (I_ds–V_ds) plot clearly indicates a p‐conducting characteristic of the synthesized graphene. Gas‐sensor measurements revealed a high sensor activity of the low‐layer graphene material towards H₂ and CO. At 300 °C, a sensor response of approximately 29 towards low H₂ concentrations (1 vol %) was observed, which is by a factor of four higher than recently reported.     

Ink‐Jet Printing of Luminescent Ruthenium‐ and Iridium‐Containing Polymers for Applications in Light‐Emitting Devices

Summary: Defined films of luminescent ruthenium(II ) polypyridyl‐poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and iridium(III ) polypyridyl‐polystyrene (PS) copolymers could be prepared by ink‐jet printing. The copolymers were deposited on photoresist‐patterned glass substrates. Films as thin as 120 nm could be printed with a roughness of 1 to 2%. In addition, the film thickness could be varied in a controlled way through the number of droplets deposited per unit area. The topography of the ink‐jet printed films was analyzed utilizing an optical profilometer. The absorbance and emission spectra were measured using fast parallel UV‐vis and fluorescence plate reader.

Photo of the solutions of luminescent ruthenium (left) and iridium (right) containing polymers in a glass microtiter plate (top). The subsequently prepared films using ink‐jet dispensing techniques are shown below.