Publications

Alvin, Kenneth F.

Abstract not provided.

Laros, James H.; Pedretti, Kevin P.; Hammond, Simon D.; Alvin, Kenneth F.

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Alvin, Kenneth F.; Laros, James H.; Hoekstra, Robert J.; Collis, Samuel S.; Lujan, Jim L.

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Laros, James H.; Collis, Samuel S.; Alvin, Kenneth F.

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Laros, James H.; Alvin, Kenneth F.; Hoekstra, Robert J.; Pedretti, Kevin P.; Hammond, Simon D.

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Laros, James H.; Alvin, Kenneth F.; Pedretti, Kevin P.; Hammond, Simon D.

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Laros, James H.; Hoekstra, Robert J.; Hammond, Simon D.; Alvin, Kenneth F.

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Hendrickson, Bruce A.; Alvin, Kenneth F.; Miller, Leann A.; Collis, Samuel S.

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Alvin, Kenneth F.; Klitsner, Tom K.

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Alvin, Kenneth F.

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Alvin, Kenneth F.

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Alvin, Kenneth F.

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Alvin, Kenneth F.

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Alvin, Kenneth F.

QMU stands for 'Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties'. QMU is a basic framework for consistency in integrating simulation, data, and/or subject matter expertise to provide input into a risk-informed decision-making process. QMU is being applied to a wide range of NNSA stockpile issues, from performance to safety. The implementation of QMU varies with lab and application focus. The Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Program develops validated computational simulation tools to be applied in the context of QMU. QMU provides input into a risk-informed decision making process. The completeness aspect of QMU can benefit from the structured methodology and discipline of quantitative risk assessment (QRA)/probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). In characterizing uncertainties it is important to pay attention to the distinction between those arising from incomplete knowledge ('epistemic' or systematic), and those arising from device-to-device variation ('aleatory' or random). The national security labs should investigate the utility of a probability of frequency (PoF) approach in presenting uncertainties in the stockpile. A QMU methodology is connected if the interactions between failure modes are included. The design labs should continue to focus attention on quantifying uncertainties that arise from epistemic uncertainties such as poorly-modeled phenomena, numerical errors, coding errors, and systematic uncertainties in experiment. The NNSA and design labs should ensure that the certification plan for any RRW is supported by strong, timely peer review and by an ongoing, transparent QMU-based documentation and analysis in order to permit a confidence level necessary for eventual certification.

International Journal of Distributed Systems and Technologies

Alvin, Kenneth F.; Barrett, Brian B.; Brightwell, Ronald B.; Dosanjh, Sudip S.; Geist, Al; Hemmert, Karl S.; Heroux, Michael; Kothe, Doug; Murphy, Richard C.; Nichols, Jeff; Oldfield, Ron A.; Rodrigues, Arun; Vetter, Jeffrey S.

There is considerable interest in achieving a 1000 fold increase in supercomputing power in the next decade, but the challenges are formidable. In this paper, the authors discuss some of the driving science and security applications that require Exascale computing (a million, trillion operations per second). Key architectural challenges include power, memory, interconnection networks and resilience. The paper summarizes ongoing research aimed at overcoming these hurdles. Topics of interest are architecture aware and scalable algorithms, system simulation, 3D integration, new approaches to system-directed resilience and new benchmarks. Although significant progress is being made, a broader international program is needed.

Alvin, Kenneth F.

Abstract not provided.

Reese, Garth M.; Driessen, Brian D.; Alvin, Kenneth F.; Day, David M.

As computational needs for structural finite element analysis increase, a robust implicit structural dynamics code is needed which can handle millions of degrees of freedom in the model and produce results with quick turn around time. A parallel code is needed to avoid limitations of serial platforms. Salinas is an implicit structural dynamics code specifically designed for massively parallel platforms. It computes the structural response of very large complex structures and provides solutions faster than any existing serial machine. This paper gives a current status of Salinas and uses demonstration problems to show Salinas' performance.

Alvin, Kenneth F.; Oberkampf, William L.; Rutherford, Brian M.; Diegert, Kathleen V.

This research effort focuses on methodology for quantifying the effects of model uncertainty and discretization error on computational modeling and simulation. The work is directed towards developing methodologies which treat model form assumptions within an overall framework for uncertainty quantification, for the purpose of developing estimates of total prediction uncertainty. The present effort consists of work in three areas: framework development for sources of uncertainty and error in the modeling and simulation process which impact model structure; model uncertainty assessment and propagation through Bayesian inference methods; and discretization error estimation within the context of non-deterministic analysis.

AIAA Journal

Alvin, Kenneth F.; Park, K.C.P.

We present a theory for transforming the system-theory-based realization models into the corresponding physical coordinate-based structural models. The theory has been implemented into computational procedure and applied to several example problems. Our results show that the present transformation theory yields an objective model basis possessing a unique set of structural parameters from an infinite set of equivalent system realization models. For proportionally damped systems, the transformation directly and systematicaly yields the normal modes and modal damping. Moreover, when nonproportional damping is present, the relative magnitude and phase of the damped mode shapes are separately characterized, and a corrective transformation is then employed to capture the undamped normal modes and nondiagonal modal damping matrix.