This sample is not from engineering – it is from meteorology.
In this sample geometry is very simple, but physics is very complicated.
Figure (а) shows distribution of atmosphere pressure near Earth surface according to measurements. Figure (b) demonstrates 4 days forecast, calculated by measurements (а).
This particular weather pattern was associated with severe storm at January 29, 1990 which caused substantial property damage in the southern part of England.
The governing equations are essentially inviscid but account for wind, temperature, pressure, humidity, surface stresses over land and sea, heating effect, precipitation and other effects.
On the other hand, geometrical complexity is minimal – the equations are written in spherical polar coordinates parallel to the earth’s surface.
Results were obtained on a 192 х 120 х 15 grid and used a split explicit finite difference scheme to advance the solution in time – 432 time-steps were used.
The 4.5 days forecast required 20 minutes processing time on CYBER 205, which at the end of 80-х, along with Cray 1, was among the most powerful supercomputers of that time.