Domain Decomposition Solver HPC Configuration Guidelines

The domain decomposition solver supports two types of domains: solver domains and finite array domains.

For problems with solver domains, there can be either FEM domains alone or FEM domains with FE-BI boundary and/or IE regions. The following cases offer basic guidelines for choosing the number of tasks and number of cores per task for each.

Case1: Solver Domain Problem without FE-BI Boundary or IE region.

In this case, the total memory requirement will typically decrease with more tasks. For optimal speed, ensure that you have 2-3 cores per task.

Case2: Solver Domain Problem with FE-BI boundary and IE region.

If the FEM portion is dominant geometrically, the rule of Case1 also applies here. Otherwise, more task input will trigger distributed IE solver in IE and BI domains. The Distributed IE solver will reduce memory requirements in each BI/IE domain with modest speed improvement for some cases.

Case3: Finite Array.

For most arrays, speed is optimal with 8-16 tasks. If you have more than 16 cores available, assigning 2-3 cores per task will most likely be better than assigning more tasks. For example, if you have a total of 24 cores, you should assign 12 tasks with 2 cores per task rather than assign 24 tasks with 1 core per task.