Vectorizing the right-hand side assembly in an explicit finite element program

Abstract The major architectural difference between supercomputers and large mainframes is the ability of supercomputers to process large blocks of independent data with only a single instruction. The blocks of independent data are called “vectors,” and supercomputers are sometimes referred to as “vector processors”. Most operations within a finite element program may be vectorized almost trivially [1] with the exception of the assembly of the right-hand side force vector. This technical note demonstrates how this operation may be vectorized and gives benchmark results on a Cray-XMP-48.