Audi Works with ESI Group and HP on Car Safety

By DE Editors

ESI Group (Paris, France; http://www.esi-group.com), a supplier of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes, announced that AUDI AG has implemented what ESI Groups calls "the auto industry's fastest supercomputer" to advance safety standards.

Crucial in optimizing car safety, the new system is based on ESI Group's PAM-CRASH 2G simulation software and an HP Cluster Platform 3000BL system, providing 15.36 teraflop/s of computing performance for crash simulation models of Audi.

The supercomputer implementation places the leading premium car manufacturer at No. 123 on the TOP500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers, making it the auto industry's fastest system, states the release.

The ease-of-use and latest algorithms in the PAM-CRASH 2G software encouraged Audi to raise its expectations for simulation design. Airbag models can now routinely take into account fluid-structure interactions, leading to realistic interactions of the airbag with structures and occupants. Furthermore, prediction testing for material rupture, which usually requires high-resolution models, can now be treated using a multi-scale approach. This helps save days of computing time and unnecessary costs.

Audi selected HP to implement high-performance computing (HPC), technology that would enhance reliability, high server density, and computing power. Audi installed the HP Cluster Platform 3000BL, a system built using 320 nodes based on HPProLiant BL460c server blades and the InfiniBand cluster interconnect. This HPC system provides the computing power and speed needed to calculate the huge volume of data generated during the simulation process.

With the HP BladeSystem c-Class architecture coupled with the HP Dynamic Smart Cooling management solution, this supercomputer requires a quarter less floor space and consumes a quarter less power than a traditional rack-based configuration, states the release. In addition, the blade configuration provides simple hardware maintenance, cabling, and system administration and offers "outstanding scalability."

For further information, visit ESI Group. http://www.esi-group.com

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.