STAR-CCM+¶

STAR-CCM+ is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and beyond. It provides a broad range of validated models to simulate disciplines and physics including CFD, computational solid mechanics (CSM), electromagnetics, heat transfer, multiphase flow, particle dynamics, reacting flow, electrochemistry, aero-acoustics and rheology; the simulation of rigid and flexible body motions with techniques including mesh morphing, overset mesh and six degrees of freedom (6DOF) motion; and the ability to combine and account for the interaction between the various physics and motion models in a single simulation to cover your specific application.

Useful Links¶

Information about STAR-CCM+ by Siemens

Licensing¶

All users must provide their own licence for STAR-CCM+. Currently we only support Power on Demand (PoD) licenses

For queries about other types of license options please contact the Cirrus Helpdesk with the relevant details.

Using STAR-CCM+ on Cirrus: Interactive remote GUI Mode¶

A fast and responsive way of running with a GUI is to install STAR-CCM+ on your local Windows(7 or 10) or Linux workstation. You can then start your local STAR-CCM+ and connect to Cirrus in order to submit new jobs or query the status of running jobs.

You will need to setup passwordless SSH connections to Cirrus.

Jobs using Power on Demand (PoD) licences¶

You can then start the STAR-CCM+ server on the compute nodes. The following script starts the server:

#!/bin/bash

# Slurm job options (name, compute nodes, job time)
#SBATCH --job-name=STAR-CCM_test
#SBATCH --time=0:20:0
#SBATCH --exclusive
#SBATCH --nodes=14
#SBATCH --tasks-per-node=36
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1

# Replace [budget code] below with your budget code (e.g. t01)
#SBATCH --account=[budget code]
# Replace [partition name] below with your partition name (e.g. standard,gpu)
#SBATCH --partition=[partition name]
# Replace [qos name] below with your qos name (e.g. standard,long,gpu)
#SBATCH --qos=[qos name]

# Load the default HPE MPI environment
module load mpt
module load starccm+

export SGI_MPI_HOME=$MPI_ROOT
export PATH=$STARCCM_EXE:$PATH
export LM_LICENSE_FILE=48001@192.168.191.10
export CDLMD_LICENSE_FILE=48001@192.168.191.10

scontrol show hostnames $SLURM_NODELIST > ./starccm.launcher.host.$SLURM_JOB_ID.txt
starccm+ -clientldlibpath /scratch/sw/libnsl/1.3.0/lib/ -ldlibpath /scratch/sw/libnsl/1.3.0/lib/ -power -podkey <PODkey> -licpath 48001@192.168.191.10 -server -machinefile ./starccm.launcher.host.$SLURM_JOB_ID.txt -np 504 -rsh ssh

You should replace “<PODkey>” with your PoD licence key.

Automatically load and start a Star-CCM+ simulation¶

You can use the “-batch” option to automatically load and start a Star-CCM+ simulation.

Your submission script will look like this (the only difference with the previous examples is the “starccm+” line)

#!/bin/bash

# Slurm job options (name, compute nodes, job time)
#SBATCH --job-name=STAR-CCM_test
#SBATCH --time=0:20:0
#SBATCH --exclusive
#SBATCH --nodes=14
#SBATCH --tasks-per-node=36
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1

# Replace [budget code] below with your budget code (e.g. t01)
#SBATCH --account=[budget code]
# Replace [partition name] below with your partition name (e.g. standard,gpu)
#SBATCH --partition=[partition name]
# Replace [qos name] below with your qos name (e.g. standard,long,gpu)
#SBATCH --qos=[qos name]

# Load the default HPE MPI environment
module load mpt
module load starccm+

export SGI_MPI_HOME=$MPI_ROOT
export PATH=$STARCCM_EXE:$PATH
export LM_LICENSE_FILE=48001@192.168.191.10
export CDLMD_LICENSE_FILE=48001@192.168.191.10

scontrol show hostnames $SLURM_NODELIST > ./starccm.launcher.host.$SLURM_JOB_ID.txt
starccm+ -clientldlibpath /scratch/sw/libnsl/1.3.0/lib/ -ldlibpath /scratch/sw/libnsl/1.3.0/lib/ -power -podkey <PODkey> -licpath 48001@192.168.191.10 -batch simulation.java -machinefile ./starccm.launcher.host.$SLURM_JOB_ID.txt -np 504 -rsh ssh

This script will load the file “simulation.java”. You can find instructions on how to write a suitable “simulation.java” here

The file “simulation.java” must be in the same directory as your Slurm submission script (or you can provide a full path).

Local Star-CCM+ client configuration¶

Start your local STAR-CCM+ application and connect to your server. Click on the File -> “Connect to Server…” option and use the following settings:

Host: name of first Cirrus compute node (use ‘qtsat’, e.g. r1i0n32)
Port: the number that you specified in the submission script

Select the “Connect through SSH tunnel” option and use:

SSH Tunnel Host: cirrus-login0.epcc.ed.ac.uk
SSH Tunnel Host Username: use your Cirrus username
SSH Options: -agent

Your local STAR-CCM+ client should now be connected to the remote server. You should be able to run a new simulation or interact with an existing one.