Add skip_evals option to Terminator UserObject for problems. Closes #30343

Author: ke7kto

framework/doc/content/source/userobjects/Terminator.md

@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ The message output by the `Terminator` when the condition for termination is met
 - an information message, to indicate that while the `Terminator` is acting on the solve, the conditions
   met are expected or normal. This can be used to make the `Terminator` stop the simulation but accept the result.
 
+An additional constraint may be added with the [!param](/UserObjects/Terminator/skip_evals) parameter,
+which temporarily disables the terminator for the first `n` evaluations (usually the same as timesteps,
+but when executed on `INITIAL`, this will change the count).
+
 
 ## Example input syntax
 

framework/include/userobjects/Terminator.h

@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ class Terminator : public GeneralUserObject
 
   /// Fparser parameter buffer
   std::vector<Real> _params;
+
+  unsigned int _n_evals;
+  const unsigned int _skip_evals;
 };
 
 #endif // LIBMESH_HAVE_FPARSER

framework/src/userobjects/Terminator.C

@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ Terminator::validParams()
       errorLevel,
       "The error level for the message. A level of ERROR will always lead to a hard "
       "termination of the entire simulation.");
+  params.addParam<unsigned int>("skip_evals",
+                                0,
+                                "Number of evaluations to skip, useful for avoiding"
+                                "errors due to initialization problems");
   return params;
 }
 
@@ -59,7 +63,8 @@ Terminator::Terminator(const InputParameters & parameters)
     _pp_names(),
     _pp_values(),
     _expression(getParam<std::string>("expression")),
-    _fp()
+    _fp(),
+    _skip_evals(getParam<unsigned int>("skip_evals"))
 {
   // sanity check the parameters
   if (_msg_type == MessageType::ERROR && _fail_mode != FailMode::HARD)
@@ -87,6 +92,7 @@ Terminator::Terminator(const InputParameters & parameters)
     _pp_values[i] = &getPostprocessorValueByName(_pp_names[i]);
 
   _params.resize(_pp_num);
+  _n_evals = 0;
 }
 
 void
@@ -150,8 +156,9 @@ Terminator::execute()
   for (unsigned int i = 0; i < _pp_num; ++i)
     _params[i] = *(_pp_values[i]);
 
+  ++_n_evals;
   // request termination of the run or timestep in case the expression evaluates to true
-  if (_fp.Eval(_params.data()) != 0)
+  if ((_fp.Eval(_params.data()) != 0) && (_skip_evals < _n_evals))
   {
     handleMessage();
     if (_fail_mode == FailMode::HARD)

test/tests/userobjects/Terminator/gold/terminator_out_long.e

@@ -9,6 +9,17 @@
     requirement = "The system shall terminate the execution of a solve based on post-processing "
                   "calculations performed within the simulation."
   []
+  [terminator_skip_evals]
+    type = 'Exodiff'
+    input = 'terminator.i'
+    exodiff = 'terminator_out_long.e'
+    issues = '#30343'
+    cli_args = "UserObjects/arnold/skip_evals=4
+                Outputs/file_base=terminator_out_long"
+    requirement = "The system shall terminate the execution of a solve based on post-processing "
+                  "calculations performed within the simulation, and skip termination if user "
+                  "specified override criteria are met."
+  []
   [terminator_soft_step_fail]
     type = 'CSVDiff'
     input = 'terminator_soft.i'