Parallel computing with domain decomposition for the vehicle crashworthiness simulation

The research presented in the paper deals with explicit nonlinear finite element calculation with domain decomposition for vehicle crashworthiness simulation. This is very important for vehicle design. Parallel computing is an efficient solution method to speedup and enhance the solving ability of large-scale numerical simulation. In this paper, a cost-effective domain decomposition method based on contact balance is presented, and the algorithm flowchart including contact computing is provided, and the parallel computing process and communication overhead are analyzed. Furthermore, scalability of the parallel computing method on different hardware platforms, the SGI Onyx 3800 and the Shen Wei cluster, is studied. Finally, the effect of different domain decomposition strategy on vehicle crashworthiness simulation computing efficiency is presented. To end users, the research results should provide a reference for vehicle design and choosing appropriate hardware platform and computing software.