Interoperable geometry and mesh components for SciDAC applications

Software components for representing and evaluating geometry (TSTTG/CGM) and finite element mesh (TSTTM/MOAB), and a higher-level component for relations between the two (TSTTR/LASSO), have been combined with electromagnetic modelling and optimization techniques, to form a SciDAC shape optimization application. The TSTT data model described in this paper allows components involved in the shape optimization application to be coupled at a variety of levels, from coarse black-box coupling (e.g. to generate a model accelerator cavity using TSTTG) to very fine-grained coupling (e.g. smoothing individual mesh elements based in part on geometric surface normals at mesh vertices). Despite this flexibility, the TSTT data model uses only four fundamental data types (entities, sets, tags, and the interface object itself). We elaborate on the design and implementation of effective components in the context of this application, and show how our simple but flexible data model facilitates these efforts.