A parallel frontal solver on the alliant FX/80

A methodology for large-scale structural analysis using a parallel frontal solution algorithm is presented. The algorithm is well suited for concurrent processing by a multiple instructions, multiple data (MIMD) machine. The method is very adaptive to a parallel environment because of the inherent parallelism of the approach, which does not require the formation of the global structure stiffness matrix. Thus large memory and storage space are not required. The method can be applied to large-scale structures which normally cannot be analyzed efficiently by a conventional serial computer. Numerical studies using the Alliant FX/80 multiprocessor computer at the Northeast Parallel Architectures Center (NPAC) of Syracuse University indicate that significant speed-up can be achieved by applying the method to large-scale problems. The method is general and can be extended to enhance its applicability and versatility.