A unified framework for accelerating the convergence of iterative substructuring methods with Lagrange multipliers

The FETI algorithms are a family of numerically scalable substructuring methods with Lagrange multipliers that have been designed for solving iteratively large-scale systems of equations arising from the nite element discretization of structural engineering, solid mechanics, and structural dynamics problems. In this paper, we present a uni ed framework that simpli es the interpretation of several of the previously presented FETI concepts. This framework has enabled the improvement of the robustness and performance of the transient FETI method, and the design of a new family of coarse operators for iterative substructuring algorithms with Lagrange multipliers. We report on both of these new developments, discuss their impact on the iterative solution of large-scale nite element systems of equations by the FETI method, and illustrate them with a few static and dynamic structural analyses on an IBM SP2 parallel processor.