An efficient parallel solution framework for the linear solution of large systems on PC clusters

In this paper, a parallel solution framework for the linear static analysis of large structures on PC clusters is presented. The framework consists of two main steps: data preparation and parallel solution. The parallel solution is performed by a substructure based method with direct solvers. The aim of the data preparation step is to create the best possible substructures so that the parallel solution time is minimized. An actual structural model was solved utilizing both homogeneous and heterogeneous PC clusters to illustrate the performance and applicability of the presented framework.