Reactive-flow computations on a massively parallel computer

Results are described of recent research and model developments for performing large-scale multidimensional compressible reacting-flow computations on the Connection Machine, a very fine-grained, parallel computer capable of multigigaflop performance. We are interested both in having general-purpose computer programs for routine production computations and in evaluating the architecture of the computer for a wide range of computational fluid dynamics and reacting-flow applications. We describe the hurdles involved in rethinking the structure and the algorithms to best suit this kind of computer, provide some relative timings for different programs, and describe ways of dealing with special constraints (such as periodic boundary conditions) imposed by the architecture. Finally, representative results are presented for several reacting and nonreacting computations, including the development and propagation of a spark in a hydrogen-oxygen mixture, an imploding detonation, and the generation of beam-channel turbulence.