Abstract:

[Objective] Establishing a distributed computing paradigm for large-scale complex geotechnical engineering models is of significant importance. [Methods] The ParMETIS graph partitioning algorithm is used to generate a grid node domain decomposition scheme based on the topological relationships of the grid node graph. By introducing ghost elements and ghost contacts, a multi-subdomain data partitioning for continuous-discontinuous computational tasks and load balancing of the computing cluster is achieved based on the grid node partitioning results. Using MPI non-blocking communication and memory-mapped sharing technology, efficient communication of the ghost node information is realized. Finally, large-scale three-dimensional continuous-discontinuous problems are solved through distributed computing on the computing cluster. [Results] Under conditions where the load is fixed either on a single node or across multiple nodes, the proposed distributed computing strategy achieves weak scalability for the CDEM, overcoming the limitations of a single machine with millions of elements, and successfully meeting the complex computational demands of tens of millions of tetrahedral elements. [Conclusions] This distributed computing strategy effectively enhances computing capability and scalability, providing a feasible solution for the application of the continuous-discontinuous element method in large-scale geotechnical engineering problems.

Key words: continuous-discontinuous element method (CDEM), distributed computing, graph partitioning, load balancing