Parallel computing for the finite element method

Abstract: A finite element method is presented to compute time harmonic microwave fields in three dimensional configurations. Nodal-based finite elements have been coupled with an absorbing boundary condition to solve open boundary problems. This paper describes how the modeling of large devices has been made possible using parallel computation, New algorithms are then proposed to implement this formulation on a cluster of workstations (10 DEC ALPHA 300X) and on a CRAY C98. Analysis of the computation efficiency is performed using simple problems. The electromagnetic scattering of a plane wave by a perfect electric conducting airplane is finally given as example.