Run-Time Load Balancing Support for a Parallel Multiblock Euler/Navier-Stokes Code with Adaptive Refinement on Distributed Memory Computers

Abstract This paper describes the parallel implementation of algorithms requiring run-time load redistribution with the aid of the parallel programming library loco . As a typical application, a 2D finite volume multiblock Euler/Navier-Stokes code with block-wise adaptive mesh refinement is discussed. The loco software handles the communication between blocks and the distribution of blocks among the processors, thereby performing automatic load balancing at run-time. The loco library is interfaced with both the native NX communication primitives on Intel iPSC hypercubes and the PVM software on workstation clusters. The parallel performance of the code on the Intel iPSC/860 and on a DEC Alpha workstation cluster is discussed. In particular the effects of mesh refinement on the load balance are investigated.