FRP Fracture Simulation Using Parallel Processing on a PC Cluster

Abstract

Abstract. Recently, applications of integrated large composite structures have been attempted to many structures of vehicles. In order to improve the cost performance and reliability, it is necessary to judge the structural integrity of composite structures. Fracture simulation techniques using FEM have been developed for the purpose. Since a number of iterations of finite element analysis are required in the fracture simulation, the simulation techniques consume many memory resources and much calculation time. In this study, a personal computer cluster (PC cluster) and the domain decomposition method were incorporated into a fracture simulation system. Calculations using a Windows PC cluster were carried out to confirm the efficiency of the proposed simulation system. As a result, it is concluded that adopting the domain decomposition method and the computer cluster is remarkably efficient to reduce calculation time.