The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) has selected MIT to establish a new research center. This center will focus on advancing the predictive simulation of extreme environments, such as those encountered in hypersonic flight and atmospheric re-entry. The initiative falls under the fourth phase of NNSA’s Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP-IV), which supports frontier research. PSAAP-IV’s mission is to enhance the predictive capabilities of high-performance computing for open science and engineering applications critical to national security mission spaces.
The Center for the Exascale Simulation of Coupled High-Enthalpy Fluid–Solid Interactions (CHEFSI), a collaborative effort uniting the MIT Center for Computational Science and Engineering, the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, and the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN), plans to harness cutting-edge exascale supercomputers and advanced algorithms. This initiative aims to model, with unprecedented precision, the complex interactions between superheated, high-velocity gaseous and solid materials. Comprehending these extreme conditions—characterized by temperatures surpassing 1,500 degrees Celsius and speeds up to Mach 25—and their implications for vehicles is paramount for national security, space exploration endeavors, and the development of sophisticated thermal protection systems.
According to Ian A. Waitz, MIT’s vice president for research, the new CHEFSI initiative is designed to harness the institution’s significant expertise in predictive modeling, high-performance computing, and STEM education. The center’s mission is to secure the United States’ position at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation. Waitz further underscored CHEFSI’s vital role in national security and advanced technologies, citing this as a clear example of MIT’s dedication to pioneering research that offers extensive societal advantages.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has designated CHEFSI as one of five new Predictive Simulation Centers. This initiative is part of a broader program that is projected to allocate up to $17.5 million to each participating center over a five-year span.
CHEFSI’s research endeavors to integrate advanced simulations of high-enthalpy gas flows with comprehensive models detailing the chemical, thermal, and mechanical behavior of solid materials. This integrated approach is designed to capture complex phenomena, including oxidation, nitridation, ablation, and fracture. By employing sophisticated computational models, rigorously validated through meticulously designed experiments, scientists can surmount the inherent limitations of traditional flight testing, gaining critical insights into material performance and failure mechanisms.
CHEFSI, an advanced research initiative, is set to revolutionize the understanding and prediction of thermal protection system performance in the most severe engineering conditions. This endeavor integrates high-fidelity physics models with artificial intelligence-based surrogate models, comprehensive experimental validation, and state-of-the-art exascale computational tools.
According to Raúl Radovitzky, the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, associate director of the ISN, and CHEFSI’s director, this integrated approach will yield critical insights. This knowledge is expected to significantly enhance the design of resilient systems for a wide array of applications, from reusable spacecraft to hypersonic vehicles.
The center’s leadership team will see Radovitzky joined by two associate directors: Youssef Marzouk and Nicolas Hadjiconstantinou. Marzouk, the Breene M. Kerr (1951) Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and co-director of the MIT Center for Computational Science and Engineering (CCSE), recently took on the additional role of associate dean for the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. Hadjiconstantinou, who also serves as a co-director of CCSE and holds the Quentin Berg (1937) Professorship of Mechanical Engineering, will fill the second associate director position.
The roster of center co-principal investigators draws from a broad spectrum of MIT faculty, with representation across the departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Materials Science and Engineering, Mathematics, and Mechanical Engineering. Franklin Hadley is slated to lead the center’s operational aspects, while Joshua Freedman will manage its financial and administrative affairs. Both Hadley and Freedman are integral members of the ISN headquarters team.
CHEFSI plans extensive collaboration with three key Department of Energy (DoE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) national laboratories: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. This strategic partnership aims to provide graduate students and postdocs with immersive research experiences and internships directly at these renowned facilities.
