Dual BEM for crack growth analysis on distributed-memory multiprocessors

The Dual Boundary Element Method (DBEM) has been presented as an effective numerical technique for the analysis of linear elastic crack problems [Portela A, Aliabadi MH. The dual boundary element method: effective implementation for crack problems. Int J Num Meth Engng 1992;33:1269–1287]. Analysis of large structural integrity problems may need the use of large computational resources, both in terms of CPU time and memory requirements. This paper reports a message-passing implementation of the DBEM formulation dealing with the analysis of crack growth in structures. We have analyzed the construction of the system and its resolution. Different data distribution techniques have been studied with several problems. Results in terms of scalability and load balance for these two stages are presented in this paper.