The Department of Energy (DOE) announced $1.2 million in funding for four projects—two with the Vehicle Technologies Office and two with the Fuel Cell Technologies Office—under the High Performance Computing for Materials (HPC4Mtls) Program.

This program aims to utilize the high performance computing (HPC) of DOE’s national laboratories to help industry develop new or improved materials that can withstand extreme conditions. Under HPC4Mtls, selected projects will have access to the labs’ HPC facilities, as well as the labs’ expertise in modeling, simulation, and data analysis.

The HPC4Mtls Program is part of a larger HPC4 Energy Innovation Initiative, a DOE-wide effort comprising the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Office of Fossil Energy (FE), the Office of Nuclear Energy, and the national laboratories. These government entities collaborate with companies to make material advancements that could save industry millions of dollars in fuel and maintenance across sectors. EERE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) each selected two projects under the first round of solicitations:

Vehicle Technologies Office

1. An Advanced Meso-Scale Peridynamic Modeling Technology Using High Performance Computing for Cost-Effective Product Design and Testing of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites in Light-Weight Vehicles – Ford Motor Company (Dearborn, MI) will improve the prediction of crash response of carbon composites in auto parts. Ford Motor Company will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory on this project. VTO Funding: $300,000; In-Kind Contribution: $60,000; Total Value: $360,000

2. Development of a Predictive Model of Antiphase Boundary Energy for L₁₂-Strengthened Superalloys – Carpenter Technology Corporation (Reading, PA) will synthesize novel materials virtually, with properties, including strength, predicted computationally. Carpenter Technology Corporation will partner with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for this project. VTO Funding: $300,000; In-Kind Contribution: $75,997; Total Value: $375,997

Fuel Cell Technologies Office

1. Simulation of Transport Phenomena in Molten Metal Reactor – Shell International Exploration and Production (South Houston, TX) will simulate heat and mass transport phenomena in a liquid bubble column reactor for converting methane to carbon and dihydrogen. Shell International Exploration and Production will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory for this project. FCTO Funding: $300,000; In-Kind Contribution: $60,000; Total Value: $360,000

2. Efficient and Safe Hydrogen Refueling of Fuel Cell Vehicles from an Emergency Chemical Hydride Storage Source – Skyhaven Systems, LLC (Steamboat Springs, CO) will model spatial and temporal variation of heat and mass transfer in a lithium hydride/water-based hydrogen refueler. Skyhaven Systems, LLC will partner with Sandia National Laboratories for this project. FCTO Funding: $300,000; In-Kind Contribution: $60,000; Total Value: $360,000

The Office of Fossil Energy has selected an additional five projects.

1. Strategic Power Systems, Inc. (SPS) will partner with ORNL to advance fusion of total plant data in a project titled “Utilizing High Performance Computational Analysis to Characterize the Operating Envelope of Various NGCC Operating Technologies – Quantifying Efficiency, Availability, and Durability of Critical Hot Gas Path Hardware and Assessing the Impact on other Downstream Systems or Components across Cyclic Operating States”.

2. Strategic Power Systems, Inc. (SPS) will partner with NETL to develop reduced order models to optimize plant operation to reduce failures due to cyclic operation and for predictive maintenance in a project titled “An Investigation of the Effect of Cyclic Operation on HRSG and Coal-fired Boiler Tubes – Failures Induced by High Thermal Stress and Component Fatigue – An Opportunity for Predictive Maintenance”.

3. United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will partner with LLNL to improve the corrosion resistance of metals used in fossil fuel-based energy processes in a project titled “Understanding Complex, Coupled Mechanisms of Oxidation and Hot Corrosion Degradation with Computational Models”.

4. Pratt & Whitney will partner with ORNL to improve gas turbine abradable materials in a project titled “Predicting Limit Rub Response in Advanced Gas Turbine Engines”.

5. Siemens Energy Inc. will partner with LANL to understand crack nucleation from forging flaws in a project titled “High-Performance Particle-Based Modeling of Damage Nucleation from Forging Flaws in Fossil Power Generation Rotor Components”.