NAISS
SUPR
NAISS Projects
SUPR
CFD simulation of rotating detonations
Dnr:

NAISS 2026/3-775

Type:

NAISS Medium

Principal Investigator:

Thommie Nilsson

Affiliation:

Lunds universitet

Start Date:

2026-09-29

End Date:

2027-04-01

Primary Classification:

20399: Other Mechanical Engineering

Secondary Classification:

20306: Fluid Mechanics

Webpage:

Allocation

Abstract

This project investigates rotating detonation combustion (RDC), an emerging combustion technology with the potential to improve the efficiency and fuel flexibility of future energy and propulsion systems. The work is supported by a project funded by the Swedish Energy Agency and focuses on the use of alternative fuels in rotating detonation combustors. The main objectives are to use numerical simulations to support the design of a laboratory-scale combustor. We request computational resources on Dardel and Arrhenius to perform high-fidelity large-eddy simulations (LES), Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations, and 2D direct numerical simulations (DNS). Most simulations will be carried out using the MPI-parallelized OpenFOAM framework. Full-annulus LES cases typically contain 10–50 million computational cells and require approximately 30,000–200,000 core-hours per simulation, while reduced-domain RANS and coarse LES calculations will enable broader parameter studies at substantially lower computational cost. A small number of fundamental detonation simulations may additionally be performed using the GPU-enabled PeleC code. The requested storage resources support the large transient datasets generated during LES campaigns, including full-resolution flow fields required for statistical analysis and post-processing. The allocation will enable a combination of targeted high-fidelity simulations and broader lower-cost parameter studies, providing the computational foundation for the design and experimental investigation of alternative-fuel rotating detonation combustors.