PARALLEL IMPLEMENTATIONS OF A FINITE-ELEMENT FORMULATION FOR FLUID-STRUCTURE INTERACTIONS IN INTERIOR FLOWS

In this paper, shared-memory parallel implementations of a finite elem ent formulation for unsteady interior flows with fluid-structure inter actions are presented. The parallel computing platforms targeted are t he CRAY C90, the Silicon Graphics (SGI) ONYX and the SGI Power Challen ge. The formulation is based on the stabilized space-time finite eleme nt method developed earlier for a more general class of flow problems involving moving boundaries and interfaces. The specific rest problem used in the performance evaluations involves fluid-structure interacti ons between a barotropic working fluid and one of the two pistons surr ounding this fluid. We demonstrate that advanced formulations applicab le to complex problems can be implemented in a parallel computing envi ronment without resulting in a significant distraction from the scient ific objectives of solving such complex problems. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sc ience B.V.