GPU Implementation and Optimization of a High-Order Spectral Difference Method for Aeroacoustic Problems
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 37, Issue 3
Abstract
This study focuses on the implementation of the spectral difference (SD) method on hexahedral elements to NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) using the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) for aeroacoustic problems. Three problems were addressed in the implementation of this study: thread parallelism strategy optimization within the GPU, data access patterns management, and multi-GPU parallelization implementation. Computational speed testing showed that the three factors significantly affect the efficiency of the code on the GPU. The implemented GPU solver was validated using an inviscid problem and a viscous problem. The numerical results show that the GPU solver achieves the same level of accuracy as the CPU program, with remarkable speed improvements. Specifically, compared with a single CPU core with a turbo boost frequency of 3.2 GHz (Intel Xeon Silver 4210), the inviscid case tested on an RTX 2070 Super GPU achieved acceleration of , and the viscous case conducted on an RTX 3090 GPU achieved acceleration of . Additionally, the GPU solver exhibits a parallel efficiency exceeding 93% when performing parallel computing on a platform with multiple RTX 3090 GPU cards. Furthermore, the GPU-accelerated computational aeroacoustics solver was applied to compute the noise from a low-speed propeller. The computed results were compared with experimental data, and the excellent agreement demonstrated the effectiveness and feasibility of the GPU implementation of the SD solver.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by NSFC-51876003, the National Key Research and Development Project (2018YFA0703300), the National Science and Technology Major Project (J2019-II-0006-0026), and the Science Center for Gas Turbine Project of China (P2022-A-II-003-001).
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© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Aug 31, 2023
Accepted: Dec 11, 2023
Published online: Feb 28, 2024
Published in print: May 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jul 28, 2024
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