Computational Mechanics for the Twenty-First Century
Edited by: B.H.V. Topping

Chapter 11

ISSUES IN THE DESIGN OF COMPUTATIONAL SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE SIMULATION OF CLOSELY COUPLED MULTI-PHYSICS PROCESSES ON PARALLEL SYSTEMS

As we enter the third millennium, the challenge for those involved in computational modelling of engineering processes is to both consider more directly the interactions amongst several phenomena comprehensively, and to simultaneously exploit parallel hardware. These two issues separately represent substantial advances upon the conventional state-of-the-art, where software focuses upon predominantly single phenomena and scalar hardware. This contribution describes one attempt to develop a multiphysics software framework that is essentially parallel. Moreover, an attempt has been made to make the framework as open as possible to enable analysts to implement their own models in as generic a fashion as possible. Some of the issues, problems and successes are outlined.

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