Finite-element analyses of problems in electromagnetic launch using a PC-based Beowulf cluster with high-speed networks

Author

Thiagarajan, V. ; Milfeld, K. ; Kuo-Ta Hsieh ; Hodge, J.

Author_Institution

Inst. for Adv. Technol., Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

Volume

39

Issue

1

fYear

2003

Firstpage

168

Lastpage

172

Abstract

Finite-element (FE) analyses in electromagnetic launch usually involve coupled electromagnetic, thermal, and structural equations. The number of unknowns to be solved could range up to a million and beyond. Parallel solution using massively parallel processing systems (MPPs) is an obvious approach toward reduction of computation times. Beowulf clusters are inexpensive parallel platforms compared with the supercomputing MPPs such as the Cray T3E. They could also serve as dedicated systems. The results from parametric analyses of a sliding electrical contact problem using an FE software EMAP3D and a Beowulf cluster are reported here.

Keywords

computational electromagnetics; electromagnetic launchers; finite element analysis; parallel processing; workstation clusters; Beowulf cluster; EMAP3D software; computational electromagnetics; electromagnetic launcher; finite element analysis; high-speed network; massively parallel processing system; parametric analysis; personal computer; sliding electrical contact; Concurrent computing; Contacts; Electromagnetic analysis; Electromagnetic coupling; Electromagnetic launching; Equations; Finite element methods; High-speed networks; Iron; Parallel processing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2002.805961

Filename

1179748