Interprocessor communication schemes in parallel finite‐discrete element analysis on PC clusters

Some issues related to effective parallel implementation of the combined finite‐discrete element approach on PC clusters are discussed. Attention is focused on the interprocessor communications. Three communication schemes suitable for different problems are presented. The worker‐to‐manager scheme is simple to implement. The neighbour‐to‐neighbour scheme is sophisticated with regard to programming, and requires extra memory space, but has good overall performance for larger problems. The mixed worker‐manager scheme can balance the difficulty in programming and the overall communication performance. The effects of subdomain buffer zone on communications are also demonstrated by numerical examples.