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A domain decomposition based parallel procedure for the combined finite-discrete element method

Although the Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method (FDEM) has proven itself in dealing with problems of complex shapes, fracture and fragmentation, there is a stark reality of CPU requirements when dealing with industrial scale problems ; in other words there is a compelling need for a parallel-processing framework to address large scale and grand challenge type of problems. One of the more recent development efforts in the context of FDEM was directed to implement the parallelization techniques needed for this method. In this paper a FDEM parallelization framework has been developed. Static domain decomposition and message passing inter-processor communication have been implemented in the FDEM code. The performance of the FDEM code in three typical problems is presented. For a discrete particle problem over 900 times speed-up has been obtained on 1000 processors. It has also been shown that the performance, especially efficiency of the parallelized software, still depends on the particular architecture of the computer hardware being used. However, the test results clearly demonstrate that it is possible to achieve very high efficiency even when a relatively large number of processors are employed. 1 2D FDEM AND PARALLELISATION The Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method [1] (FDEM) merges the finite element based analysis of continua [2] with discrete element based transient dynamics, contact detection, and contact interaction solutions [3]. In FDEM the solid domains (called discrete elements) are discretized into finite elements, where finite rotations and finite displacements are assumed a priori and are formulated using a multiplicative decomposition based finite strain formulation. Through failure, fracture and fragmentation, single domains represented by separate finite element meshes are transformed into a number of interacting domains. The finite element discretization of solid domains is also conveniently used to discretize the contact between discrete elements. In recent years, particularly in the field of rock mechanic applications, researchers have 912

Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method PARALLELISATION

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