Dynamic multi-partitioning for parallel finite element applications

The central product of the DRAMA (Dynamic Re-Allocation of Meshes for paral lel Finite Element Applications) project is a library comprising a variety of tools for dynamic repartitioning of unstructured Finite Element (FE) app lications. The input to the DRAMA library is the computational mesh, and co rresponding costs, partitioned into sub-domains. The core library functions then perform a parallel computation of a mesh re-allocation that will re-b alance the costs based on the DRAMA cost model. We discuss the basic featur es of this cost model, which allows a general approach to load identificati on, modelling and imbalance minimisation. Results from crash simulations ar e presented which show the necessity for multi-phase/multi-constraint parti tioning components. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.