Concurrent processing for nonlinear analysis of hollow rectangular structural sections

A concurrent processing algorithm is developed for a materially nonlinear analysis of hollow square and rectangular structural sections and implemented on a special purpose multiprocessor computer at NASA Langley Research Center referred to as the Finite Element Machine (FEM). The cross-sectional thrust-moment-curvature relations are generated concurrently using a tangent stiffness approach, and yield surfaces are obtained that represent the interaction between axial load and biaxial moments. For the study, a maximum speed-up factor of 7.69 is achieved on eight processors.