PECOS

The Center for Predictive Engineering and Computational Science is a research center in the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. We are dedicated to the development and application of tools and techniques for making reliable computational predictions of complex systems.

We are hiring! Please check out our Jobs page.

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Plasma Torch Modeling

One of the major research thrusts being pursued within the Center is the development of high fidelity simulations of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torches. These torch modeling efforts are supported in part by funding from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing under the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program.

ICP torches have a wide variety of industrial uses including: materials testing, gas pyrolysis, material synthesis, and coating deposition. Accurate simulation of an ICP torch represents a highly complex, multi-physics, multi-scale simulation challenge combining a variety of important physical phenomena:

• fluid and plasma flow
• electromagnetism
• non-equilibrium kinetics
• radiative transport

To help support computational modeling development and validation, various experimental campaigns are planned leveraging a 25 kW (peak) plasma torch housed at UT’s J.J. Pickle Research Campus.

In addition, the Center is engaged in a variety of complementary computer science, algorithmic, and uncertainty quantification activities to support development of performant and scalable multi-physics simulations leveraging supercomputing resources at TACC and future exascale systems.