In a few days' time we'll be holding the first of our imaginatively titled Doughnuts and HPC sessions.  Modelled on the Open Data Institute's ODI Fridays, the idea is that we set aside an hour over lunch for people to discuss our latest HPC backed research. This will be a great opportunity to find out more about what the person down the corridor is doing, and we hope that it will lead to all kinds of new interdisciplinary collaborations.  All that, and doughnuts too!



What: Come and hear how others are using our HPC facilities and how you could benefit
When: Lunchtime, Tuesday 18th June 2013, 13:00 – 14:00
Where: RT0.25 (Fire Station), School of Civil and Building Engineering
Who: To reserve a place, contact Malcolm Cook (malcolm.cook at lboro.ac.uk, 01509 222816)
(doughnuts available to those who book!)


The Large Eddy Simulation Dilemma

Faisal Durrani, Civil and Building Engineering

The use of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) for modelling air flows in buildings is a growing area of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Compared to traditional CFD techniques, LES provides a more detailed approach to modelling turbulence in air. This offers the potential for more accurate  modelling of low energy natural ventilation which is notoriously difficult to model using traditional CFD.

Currently, very little is known about the performance of LES for modelling natural ventilation, and its computational intensity makes its practical use on desk top computers prohibitive. The objective of this work was to apply LES to a variety of natural ventilation strategies and to compile guidelines for practitioners on its performance, including the trade-off between accuracy and cost.


Modelling Radiation Damage in Metals
for Nuclear Power Plants

Zainab Al-Tooq, Mathematics Department

Due to its ability to change the physical properties of materials there have been numerous studies of the effect of radiation damage on materials. Important radiation effects are radiation induced segregation and the formation of voids and gas  bubbles which tend to degrade the materials’ properties.

In recent years computer simulation has become an important tool to investigate such problems. Molecular dynamics, for instance, is an extremely powerful tool to address many problems related to radiation damage and has given insight into numerous aspects regarding radiation damage.

The main aim of this work is to study radiation damage in materials used in nuclear power plants such as Ni-based alloys.