Automatic Computation of Sensitivities for a Parallel Aerodynamic Simulation.

Abstract

Derivatives of functions given in the form of large-scale simulation codes are frequently used in computational science and engineering. Examples include design optimization, parameter estimation, solution of nonlinear systems, and inverse problems. In this note we address the computation of derivatives of a parallel computational fluid dynamics code by automatic differentiation. More precisely, we are interested in the derivatives of the flow field around a three-dimensional airfoil with respect to the angle of attack and the yaw angle. We discuss strategies for transforming MPI commands by the forward and reverse modes of automatic differentiation and report performance results on a Sun Fire E2900.