Direct Simulation of Engineering Problems with a Fast Array Computer : 1st Report, Basic Concept of Direct Simulation and Parallel Computation Algorithms using Jacobi Method

Abstract

The finite difference or finite element method, which has been applied successfully to the numerical analyses of many engineering problems, consists of synthesizing linear equations for nodal points of mesh of continuous solids and solving these simultaneous linear equations by a proper algorithm using a conventional computer, which has one or a few arithmetic units (AU). If an array computer is designed, which has hundreds of AUs connected in a network fashion, the time-consuming finite difference or finite element computations can be executed very fast, provided each AU is attached to each nodal point and parallel computations are performed at each AU according to common timing diagrams. This report deals with the development of parallel computation algorithms using Jacobi method and discusses the computation efficiencies, aiming at the development of an array computer which can be used profitably to solve many engineering problems.