Sierra Mechanics

Sierra is Sandia’s engineering mechanics simulation code suite. It is part of the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program, and provides predictive simulation tools to support U.S. stockpile stewardship. The Sierra suite includes coupled simulation capabilities for thermal, fluid, aerodynamics, solid mechanics and structural dynamics. We use these simulation capabilities to predict the performance of a weapon system in normal operation as well as the response of a system in abnormal environments, such as a crash or fire.

If you are interested in obtaining Sierra software, please contact Kendall Pierson or request access here.

This website includes documentation for Sierra products and related capabilities. Click on each link to learn more.

High-level overview of recent changes in CompSim products

Static and dynamic analysis of solids and structures.

General transport including energy, species, radiation, reacting flow, electrostatics, fluid flow, and displacement.

Structural dynamics simulations in the time and frequency domains.

Low-Mach, laminar and turbulent reacting flow for fire enviroments.

Generation of 2D/3D finite element meshes and geometry preparation.

Inverse problems and optimal experimental design in structural dynamics and thermal physics.

Optimization-based geometry design.

Loose coupling of Sierra apps with access to framework services.

Participating Media Radiation solver.

Pre/post-processing codes, analysis codes, database translation codes, support libraries.

Software modules for mesh management, IO, transfer, and load balancing.

Solution verification and error analysis.

Workflow management, model building, job submission, requirements tracking, and simulation data management.