Case Study: Jacobs achieves 10x faster CFD data loading with Tecplot SZL

Using a File Format that Loads CFD Data 10 Times Faster

Jacobs, working through CFD engineer Jared Gudenkauf at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, needed a faster way to visualize large CFD results from Loci/CHEM on the Pleiades supercomputer. Using Tecplot 360 with older Ensight-format outputs meant data sets could take 10 to 15 minutes to load and sometimes exceeded the memory limits of the 64GB workstation.

Tecplot, Inc. helped Jacobs by supporting the SZL file format in the Loci/CHEM extract utility, allowing results to be viewed directly in Tecplot 360 with much faster loading and lower memory use. The new workflow cut load time to about a minute, roughly 10x faster time to first picture, and even let Jacobs visualize results on an 8GB Mac, with Jared describing the experience as “like night and day.”

Jacobs

Jared Gudenkauf

Contractor for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center