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Automatic Partitioning of Frame Structures for Concurrent Processing
Author(s) -
KAMAL O.,
ADELI H.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
computer‐aided civil and infrastructure engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.773
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1467-8667
pISSN - 1093-9687
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8667.1990.tb00388.x
Subject(s) - computer science , multiprocessing , parallel computing , frame (networking) , algorithm , data structure , partition (number theory) , truss , workload , mathematics , telecommunications , structural engineering , combinatorics , engineering , programming language , operating system
An efficient 3‐stage algorithm for automatic partitioning of frame structures is presented. Once the input data of the structure is fed into the computer, the domain is partitioned into a number of subdomains equal to the number of the specified processors. The underlying concept is to preprocess the input data in such a manner that subsequent analysis and optimal design steps can be carried out efficiently on multiprocessor computers. Emphasis is directed towards attaining a balance of workload among the processors, minimizing the bandwidth within each subdomain, and minimizing the number of linear equations to be solved for the interface degrees of freedom. All the vectors involved in the partitioning algorithm are integers, requiring a small storage and resulting in calculations that can be processed fast. The algorithm is specially suitable for analysis and design of large structures such as space stations. The algorithm presented is hardware independent. Our applications, however, are limited to the Encore Multimax shared memory computer. The efficiency of the algorithm is demonstrated through partitioning several truss and frame problems, for a variable number of processors.