OPTIMIZATION OF LARGE STRUCTURES IN A MASSIVELY PARALLEL ENVIRONMENT

THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO DESIGN PROBLEMS IN STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS THROUGH THE EFFICIENT USE OF THE CONNECTION MACHINE AND THROUGH NEW OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR SIMD ARCHITECTURES. PROJECT OBJECTIVES WILL BE TO DEVELOP A SUPER-EFFICIENT, GENERAL-PURPOSE, ANALYTICAL/COMPUTATIONAL TOOL (COMPUTER CODE) ON THE MASSIVELY PARALLEL CM-2 COMPUTER SYSTEM. THIS TOOL CAN BE USED FOR METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND FOR APPLICATIONS IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION; IT CAN ALSO BE EXTENDED TO MULTILEVEL AND/OR MULTIDISCIPLINARY OPTIMIZATION. AN EXISTING EFFICIENT, GENERAL-PURPOSE, NONLINEAR OPTIMIZATION CODE WILL BE ADAPTED, AND A MASSIVELY PARALLEL, FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS/REANALYSIS PROCEDURE FOR LARGE STRUCTURES WILL BE FORMULATED. THE END PRODUCTS WILL BE SEVERAL EFFICIENT, MASSIVELY PARALLEL STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS/OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS AND AN ASSOCIATED GENERAL-PURPOSE PROTOTYPE COMPUTER CODE (OR CODE SYSTEM). THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO DESIGN PROBLEMS IN STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS THROUGH THE EFFICIENT USE OF THE CONNECTION MACHINE AND THROUGH NEW OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR SIMD ARCHITECTURES. PROJECT OBJECTIVES WILL BE TO DEVELOP A SUPER-EFFICIENT, GENERAL-PURPOSE, ANALYTICAL/COMPUTATIONAL TOOL (COMPUTER CODE) ON THE MASSIVELY PARALLEL CM-2 COMPUTER SYSTEM. THIS TOOL CAN BE USED FOR METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND FOR APPLICATIONS IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION; IT CAN ALSO BE EXTENDED TO MULTILEVEL AND/OR MULTIDISCIPLINARY OPTIMIZATION. AN EXISTING EFFICIENT, GENERAL-PURPOSE, NONLINEAR OPTIMIZATION CODE WILL BE ADAPTED, AND A MASSIVELY PARALLEL, FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS/REANALYSIS PROCEDURE FOR LARGE STRUCTURES WILL BE FORMULATED. THE END PRODUCTS WILL BE SEVERAL EFFICIENT, MASSIVELY PARALLEL STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS/OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS AND AN ASSOCIATED GENERAL-PURPOSE PROTOTYPE COMPUTER CODE (OR CODE SYSTEM).